Addicted to crystal meth debt

If you’re looking for a great US TV series to watch as the nights start to draw in, I recommend checking out Breaking Bad.

It tells the story of a struggling high school chemistry teacher who resorts to manufacturing the illicit drug methamphetamine (crystal meth) following his diagnosis with advanced lung cancer.

Breaking Bad is a very dark comedy, dealing with the consequences of our actions and multiple themes, including addiction.

The reason for mentioning one of my favourite TV shows is the comments from Pimco founder and chief investment officer Bill Gross, who has warned that the UK and US have become hooked on ‘crystal meth’ debt.

His monthly investment update highlights a number of developed countries – also including France, Japan, Spain and Greece – who are struggling to keep their debts under control.

Gross said, “The US and its fellow serial abusers have been inhaling debt’s methamphetamine crystals for some time now, and kicking the habit looks incredibly difficult.”

He is particularly concerned about this addiction to debt in the US, which has recently launched its latest round of quantitative easing, referred to as QE3 (or QE∞ due to its open-ended nature).

Gross continued, “The US is a serial offender, an addict whose habit extends beyond weed or cocaine and who frequently pleasures itself with budgetary crystal meth. Uncle Sam’s habit will be a hard and dangerous one to break.”

We have written before about the possible consequences of developed economies unwinding their rescues of the global financial crisis.

Assuming the addiction to debt is as severe as Bill Gross describes, unwinding the rescue could be of less concern than weaning developed economies off the debt in the first place.

When was the last time you reviewed your investment portfolio? Get in touch today to arrange an initial meeting with an Informed Choice financial planner. We offer this first meeting at our expense and with no obligation.

Photo credit: Flickr/Pop Culture Geek