As of March 16, 2011, the official debt of the United States government is $14.2 trillion ($14,232,849,993,955).[1] This amounts to:
• $46,053 for every person living in the U.S.
• $121,091 for every household in the U.S.
• $302,729 for every U.S. household that pays more in federal taxes than they receive in benefits from the federal government
Publicly traded companies are legally required to account for "explicit" and "implicit" future obligations such as employee pensions and retirement benefits. The federal budget, which is the "federal government's primary financial planning and control tool," is not bound by this rule.
* As of September 30, 2010 (the end of the federal government's fiscal year), the federal government has:
• $7.3 trillion ($7,297,000,000,000) in liabilities such as federal employee retirement and veterans' benefits[10]
• $17.2 trillion ($17,195,000,000,000) in unfunded obligations for the Social Security program
• $22.8 trillion ($22,800,000,000,000) in unfunded obligations for the Medicare program
• $122 billion ($122,000,000,000) in unfunded obligations for two other "social insurance" programs called "Black Lung" and "Railroad Retirement"
These unfunded obligations are referred to as "closed group present values" and are calculated in a manner that approximates how publicly traded companies are required to calculate their debts and obligations. The figures represent how much money must be immediately placed in interest-bearing investments to cover the shortfalls between projected revenues and expenditures for all current taxpayers and beneficiaries in these programs.