We hear endlessly about the US national debt figures, and with good reason. It's a problem that cannot be neglected indefinitely.

I concede that the US should focus on putting its own house in order. Yet in the interest of fairness, since the media has all but ignored EU debt, couldn't we ask what the comparable figures for the EU are?

That's an easier question to pose than to give an answer to. I spent about 3 hours online finding the answer.

As of now, in late August 2007, the US national debt stands at US$8.910 trillion. The most recent statistics I could find for the EU were for 2003, and the data require a series of calculations.

As of the end of 2003 national debt for the then EU15 states (before expansion to EU25) amounted to 63.3% of total GDP. GDP for 2003 was Euros 9.953 trillion. Using Euro/US$ exchange rates for the end of 2003, that GDP amount is US$12.739 trillion. Last, 63.3% of that GDP amount brings the 2003 EU total government debt to US$8.063 trillion.

By comparison, what was the 2003 US national debt level? As of Jan. 15, 2004 the US national debt stood at US$7.001 trillion. EU debt, by my reckoning, exceeded US debt in 2003 by some 15.2%. Data was obtained from Eurostat and the US National Debt Clock.

To summarize:
2003 EU gov't debt: US$8.063
2003 US gov't debt: US$7.001
Needless to say, the US debt level is rising fast, up US$ 2 trillion since Jan. 2004. It seems probable, given anemic EU GDP growth, that the EU debt level has continued to exceed the US.

Is the leftmedia too lazy or too biased to report this? Or are they too obtuse to do the simple calculations?

At any rate, I would argue that when a global financial crunch comes, it will likely originate in the EU.

Be prepared for when they spin it as a US-generated financial fiasco. That's just how the left operates.