Bankruptcy of U.S. now certain

It's one of those numbers that's so unbelievable you have to actually think about it for a while ...

Within the next 12 months, the U.S. Treasury will have to refinance $2 trillion in short-term debt. And that's not counting any additional deficit spending, which is estimated to be around $1.5 trillion.

Put the two numbers together. Then ask yourself, how in the world can the Treasury borrow $3.5 trillion in only one year? That's an amount equal to nearly 30 percent of our entire GDP. And we're the world's biggest economy. Where will the money come from?

The U.S. holds gold, oil, and foreign currency in reserve. It has 8,133.5 metric tons of gold (it is the world's largest holder). At current dollar values, it's worth around $300 billion. The U.S. strategic petroleum reserve shows a current total position of 725 million barrels. At current dollar prices, that's roughly $58 billion worth of oil. And according to the IMF, the U.S. has $136 billion in foreign-currency reserves. So altogether, that's around $500 billion of reserves. Our short-term foreign debts are far bigger.