After the disastrous great fire of Hamburg in 1842 he participated in the city's reconstruction with his private assets.

Long-term investments in private assets make that approach much fuzzier, because there are no stock prices to look up.

Negative amounts of net debt reflect how much of the nation's private financial assets have been acquired by the federal government.

Some of that gold, American officials now say, may have come from the private assets of Jews and others.

As of 2010, Japan possesses 13.7% of the world's private financial assets (the 2nd largest in the world) at an estimated $14.6 trillion.

Communal and private assets believed to be worth billions of dollars are at stake.

As a result, Africa's ruling elite have private overseas assets equivalent to 145 per cent of the public debt their countries owe.

The distribution of private economic assets, in property and investments, widen American differences even more.

Is it a public asset or a private asset to be protected?

Congress might not dare to use private assets to offset budget deficits.