Everyone’s in debt, America, China, India, Europe. But if every country owes trillions, who’s actually lending? The answer reveals a financial loop that’s pushing the global economy toward a tipping point, warns investment banker Sarthak Ahuja.
In a LinkedIn post that’s stirring debate, Ahuja breaks down a rarely addressed paradox: the world is drowning in over $300 trillion of debt, yet the global economy is only worth around $100 trillion. “Practically every major country is indebted to every other,” he writes, “but the debts don’t cancel out. Instead, they keep growing.”
The U.S. alone owes $36 trillion—with $750 billion of that held by China. But China itself is $18 trillion in debt. The loop keeps going.
Why? “Because countries need money to grow,” Ahuja explains. They borrow by issuing bonds, and those bonds are bought by citizens, banks, and foreign governments. In fact, 70% of U.S. debt is owed to…
