Fun with Fed numbers

[Dennis Robert Redmond]

According to the latest Fed release
(http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/Z1/Current/z1.pdf) the US is on
the hook to foreign creditors for $2.4 trillion, or 23.7% of its GDP. This
may sound drastic, but to keep that in perspective, that's only 8.6% of
the entire US credit market, and a piddling 5.4% of the total stock of
household/non-profit wealth.

One little problem with the soft landing scenario: Table B.100.e details
the share of equities for households/non-profit wealth. Assets rose from
$20 trillion to $40 trillion from 1989 to 2000, but the equity share in
this figure rose from 14.3% in 1989 and peaked at 35.5% in 1999. No wonder
the Fed is scrambling for cover.

-- Dennis