“U.S. Households are Powerhouses of Productivity” says Alan Quasha

According to the article by Alan Quasha, CEO of Quadrant Management, when assessing the wealth of the United States, it is not enough to examine the financial state of the government. As Quasha puts it, “To most accurately compute the real balance sheet, one must look at the balance sheet of all American households, since essentially all the government's revenues come from households, either directly (from taxes on individuals) or indirectly (from taxes on corporations, through double taxation).”

When we do this we find out some interesting information. At the end of 2006 households in America showed a very positive collective balance sheet: they had 42.9 trillion dollars in financial assets, 26.6 trillion dollars in nonfinancial assets (22.6 trillion dollars in real estate) and a total of $13.4 trillion dollars in liabilities (10.1 trillion dollars worth of mortgages), leaving a total net worth of $56.1 trillion.

This is against the popular perception and shows that American households have established a considerable net worth and are impressively productive.