Shut your eyes and try to visualise $160tn. It might seem impossible. Those zeroes in $160,000,000,000,000 — which almost take up a line by themselves — are enough to make anyone dizzy.
But right now we should try anyway because a new report about the state of the world’s balance sheet (that is, its assets and debts relative to growth) contains a startling finding. Number crunchers at the consultancy McKinsey believe that, since 2000, the world’s stock of paper wealth (the speculative, unrealised price of all its financial assets) has jumped by some $160tn. Yes, really.
Partly, that reflects real economic growth. But it primarily stems from a sharp rise in global debt and in the supply of money through quantitative easing, particularly in countries such as the US, which has raised asset prices. For every dollar of global investment made since 2000, some $1.90 of debt has been added. During the 2020 and 2021 period, this “accelerated to $3.40 for each $1.00 in net investment”, McKinsey says. This was the fastest rate in 50 years.