The United States of American Debt

The national debt in the U.S. climbed to $7.17 trillion in November and the U.S.’s debt burden will climb to 97.5 % of GDP next year from 87.4 %, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

According to Moody's Wall Street ratings analytics, the U.K. and the U.S. have “resilient” Aaa ratings, as opposed to the “resistant” top ratings of Canada, Germany, France, Switzerland, and New Zealand.

What does that mean?

Well, Moody's defines "resilient" as “Aaa countries whose public finances are deteriorating considerably and may therefore test the Aaa boundaries, but which display, in our opinion, an adequate reaction capacity to rise to the challenging and rebound,” whereas, "resistant" are countries who "started from a more robust position and won’t see debt exceeding levels consistent with their Aaa status."

How big is the debt limit, you ask? Well, it should be $14 trillion after the chamber votes to increase it a fourth time in 18 months by $1.8 trillion or $1.9 trillion, more than twice the size of each of the past three debt limit increases.

However, not to worry as Moody's sees no threat to U.S. top rating for now.