Understanding the Debt
How Much Do We Owe?
Our national debt is more than $12 trillion.
That is how much the United States has borrowed, and how much we have to pay interest on. To put $12 trillion in perspective, our national debt is larger than the total economies of China, the United Kingdom, and Australia combined.
The combined gross domestic products of China, the United Kingdom, and Australia, as estimated by the International Monetary Fund in 2008, are $10.89 trillion.
And under current policies, our national debt will continue to grow by hundreds of billions every year.
According to the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget, our national debt will grow an additional $9 trillion over the next decade, to more than $20 trillion.
During that time, the United States will accumulate $2.5 billion in new debt each and every day. That’s $1.72 million per minute, for the next ten years.
Using the projected addition to national debt based on the August 2009 Mid-Session Review Budget of the U.S. Government, we find that the United States government will accumulate an average of approximately $905.1 billion of debt per year for the next ten years. [9,051,000,000,000 / 10 = 905,100,000,000 (per year)] That means that every day, the government will accumulate an average of $2,478,079,632.02 in additional debt. [905.1 billion / 365.2425 = $2,478,079,632.02 (approx. $2.5 billion per day)].
Accordingly, more than $100 million of debt is being accumulated every hour. [$2,478,079,632.02 / (24 hours) = $103,253,318] And every minute, the U.S. government accumulates approximately $1.72 million in additional debt. [$103,253,318 / (60 minutes) = $1,720,888] That's $28,681.48 a second. [$1,720,888 / (60 seconds) = $28,681.48 per second]
A Snapshot of our National Debt:
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The Treasury Department estimates that our debt to China is approximately $776.4 billion, having grown more than $240 billion in the last year. That is more than $10,000 in debt for the average American working family.
According to the Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve Board, China held $776,400,000,000 in Treasury securities as of June 2009. http://www.treas.gov/tic/mfh.txt The total estimated population of China was 1,338,612,968 in July 2009. The estimated population of the United States at that time was 307,212,123, according to the US Census Bureau. Therefore, China’s per-capita debt holdings to the United States is $580.00. [Total Securities Debt /Total Chinese Population = $580.00] Each American’s share of that debt is $2,527.24. [Total Securities Debt / Total US Population = $2,527.24] This means that every American owes $580 to 4.36 people in China. [$2,527.24 / $580 = 4.36]. According to the 5th National Census taken in 2000, the average Chinese family size was 3.44 people. [Handbook of World Families, Edited by Bert N. Adams and Jan Trost, pg. 93]. This means that an average Chinese family of 3.44 people is owed about $1,995 USD. [3.44 people x $580 per person = $1995.2] The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the American civilian labor force was 154,504,000 in July of 2009. Each working American’s share of that debt is $5,025.11. [Total Securities Debt / Total US work force = $ 5,025.11].
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Over the course of the next decade, the government will borrow approximately $1.72 million every minute. That’s the equivalent of 5,733 flat screen HDTVs it cannot afford.
Assuming that the rate of debt accumulation is constant, the U.S. government will accumulate approximately $1.72 million in additional debt every minute. According to a major electronics retail chain, a 26 inch LCD HDTV costs about $300.00 ($299.99) which adds up to 5,701 TVs for the $1.71 million of new debt per minute. [$1,720,000 / $299.99 = 5,733]
- From 2010 to 2019, the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget estimate the cumulative deficit will be $9 trillion. This means that over the next decade $9 trillion will be added to our existing national debt, creating a total debt of more than $20 trillion.
- According to the August OMB report, this year’s projected deficit alone is almost $1.58 trillion (11.2% of GDP). Next year’s deficit is projected to be $1.5 trillion (10.4% of GDP). These are the largest deficits relative to GDP since 1945.
- From 2008 to 2009, public debt rose from 41% of GDP to 56% of GDP--about $8 trillion). According to the March CBO report, under current policy, public debt will rise to 82% of GDP by 2019, equaling approximately $17 trillion.
- About $4 trillion of the total debt is money that the government has borrowed from itself, by writing IOUs for huge sums taken from Social Security and Medicare surpluses.
- In July of 2009, the United States paid more than $19 billion in interest on the public debt [$19,812,486,187.83, Office of the Public Debt]. In 2009, according to the CBO, $177 billion of taxpayer funds will be used just to pay interest on the debt—not to pay off the debt, just to pay interest on it.
Every American worker’s share of the national debt is more than $75,000.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the American civilian labor force was 154,504,000 in July 2009. Each of these U.S. workers' share of the $12 trillion national debt is $77,667.89.
- According to the Department of the Treasury, foreign holders of our national debt are owed a combined total of about $3.3 trillion.
- As reported by the Treasury Department, the top ten countries and entities holding U.S. debt are: China, Japan, the United Kingdom, Oil Exporters, Caribbean Banking Centers, Brazil, Russia, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
