DEBTS EXCEED WEALTH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21463, 10 April 1933, Page 9

DEBTS EXCEED WEALTH

POSITION IN AMERICA THEORETICAL STATISTICS NEW YORK. April 7 Based on a highly theoretical estimate of tho cash into which the physical assets of the United States might be converted under the present abnormal conditions, a report released today by Mr. J. H. Iland, jun., indicated that the total debt of the nation exceeds its total wealth. Mr. Rand, who is president of Remington Rand (Incorporated), presented the figures prepared by the research department of his company. They showed the total debt at 141,924,300,000 dollars, and the total wealth at 138,000,000,000 dollars. The debt estimate is similar to figures recently given by the National Industrial Conference Board, but there are no recent estimates of the national wealth. The figure for that is far below the figures which appeared two or three years ago. Evidently this is due largely to the difficulty of converting physical assets into cash under the current extraordinary conditions. Mr. Rand emphasised that the figures and estimates were theoretical, but said he had no doubt as to their reasonable accuracy. He is chairman of a group of 300 business leaders which lias recommended the devaluation of the dollar. The debts are larger than the wealth at present, because the debts are relatively fixed in value on paper, while wealth fluctuates with the theoretical current cash value.