Backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government

Ironically, the most secure investments are said to be things like US savings bonds. Yet the US government is now around 9 trillion dollars in debt. If the government were a corporation, it's bonds would likely be in the "junk bond" category. If accountants were evaluating the government in terms of future liabilities versus future income, it would look scary. Future liabilities include things like Social Security, interest on the deficit, Medicare and all the other obligations of the US government. Future income would be the ability to raise money from taxes and other income sources such as user fees for services.

It sure looks like liabilities out pace potential revenue. Scary.

I guess US savings bonds are still about the most reliable investment out there because the government owns the mints where US dollars are printed.

This comment inspired after I listened to an interesting hour on the Bob Brinker Money Talk show about the problem of the deficit. He interviewed an interesting author, but of course I forgot some of the details. Still, my mind keeps spinning.