How Wealthy is America?

"How wealthy is the USA?" This is a critical question as it lies at the heart of so many other issues:

"Can the US service its debt?"
"Can we afford health care for the Boomers?"
"What backs the US Dollar?"
"Is the US becoming a "banana republic"?"
"Should the US Dollar remain the world's reserve currency?"
"Will the US remain an economic superpower?"

You could answer all of these questions in countless ways, but here is at least one quick perspective that may help those who are riddled with concern about the future of America:

Per the most recent date from the Federal Reserve, U.S. Household Net Worth (assets less all mortgage, credit card or other debt) totals over $53 trillion.

http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1r-1.pdf

Interestingly, per the World Federation of Exchanges, the total market capitalization of global equities is $52.7 trillion.

http://www.world-exchanges.org/statistics/key-market-figures

So, the people of the U.S. collectively, theoretically, have sufficient wealth to buy all the publicly traded stocks in the world!

Further, foreign currency reserves of China total under $3 trillion. U.S. households possess over $7 trillion in deposits.

http://www.safe.gov.cn/model_safe_en/tjsj_en/tjsj_detail_en.jsp?ID=30303000000000000,19&id=4


When was the last time you heard someone say: "the citizens (not the government) of the US have more economic power than China." ?