Doug Hornig, senior prognosticator at The Casey Report, analyzes the alarming trend of U.S. federal debt and its future implications.

“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,” said Blanche DuBois, in the final words of the play A Streetcar Named Desire. Well, don’t we all.

Many citizens probably still cling to the old saw that public debt doesn’t matter because “we owe it to ourselves.” Wrong. Debt always matters. And as for whom we owe it to, it is a lot of kind (or, at least, not yet unkind) strangers.

No one really knows how long the global recession will last, but based on a recent article it may persist longer than predicted. The message to investors, therefore, is that bonds and gold may be the best way to ride out the storm instead of trying to cherry pick winners.

“Being rich is bad,” declares Venezuela’s president. But someone’s forgotten to tell his people. Because this place isn’t some dour socialist paradise… you can see the money everywhere!