Letter: Debt tally

WE ARE bombarded every day with how much governments seem to be in debt, but as every beancounter knows all debits have corresponding credits.

Your world map and pie-chart ("the world's great economic turmoil", 9 August) give some detail, but could your economic experts, such as Bill Jamieson, maybe put together a grid covering, say, the G20 countries tabulating the sums owed by the debtor governments against their corresponding creditors (internal and external)? It will not balance exactly due to non-G20 obligations, but should be indicative enough. It could then be extended to cover all business and private indebtedness.

It would also be interesting to learn how much of our government's "queasing" (printing unearned money) has ended up abroad, rather than encouraging growth directly in the UK domestic economy.

JOHN BIRKETT

Horseleys Park

St Andrews, Fife