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18 astounding facts about the national debt

KLATTU

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n order to pay down our national debt you would have to combine the GDP of China, Japan, and India.
The United States owes $68,400 per citizen.
The United States owes $183,000 per taxpayer.
The United States currently has $125 trillion (yes, trillion) in unfunded liabilities.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the US debt held by the public will reach 100 percent of GDP in 2028.
In 2008, interest on the federal debt was $253 billion. Interest for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 is roughly 89 percent higher.
For FY 2019, interest alone on the federal debt is $479 billion. In 1979, total federal government receipts were $463 billion.
In the year 2000, the federal debt was $5.67 trillion. In 2019, federal debt is 297 percent higher.
At Forbes, Jim Powell writes that the old New Deal cost about $50 billion from 1933 to 1940, whereas the “future cost of old New Deal programs still in effect is reckoned at more than $50 trillion.”
A recent analysis by the CBO projected that the federal budget deficit (deficit as in the difference between federal outlays and revenues) will grow to $1 trillion alone in 2020.
As of December 2018, only ten countries have worse Debt-to-GDP ratios than the United States.
At NPR, Danielle Kurtzleben writes that Senator Bernie Sanders’ “taxation-and-spending plans...would together add $18 trillion to the national debt over a decade.”
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, roughly 24 percent of federal spending goes to Social Security, 26 percent to federal health insurance programs, 9 percent to safety net programs, and only 2 percent on transportation infrastructure.
By 2025, the cost of servicing our national debt will exceed the cost of our military spending.
The cost of implementing a Universal Basic Income, presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s central social program proposal, would cost $3.8 trillion per year or roughly 85 percent of current federal spending.
It would take the United States 713,470 years to pay down the national debt if we paid $1 per second of the year.
Modern presidents have doubled the national debt every nine years.
The Federal Reserve “purchased large amounts of federal debt as part of its quantitative easing program,” thus cheapening the cost (decreasing the interest rates) of money.

Progressive lawmakers have largely refrained from discussing this liability, preferring to claim that the United States can continue to fund exorbitant government programs. Conservatives have unsuccessfully, on numerous occasions, attempted to limit federal outlays. With each failed attempt, conservatives instead continue to vote for spending increases. At the National Review, Michael Tanner writes,

there is no effort to prioritize or make the difficult choices of governing, there is only...more.

18 Facts on the US National Debt That Are Almost Too Hard to Believe - Foundation for Economic Education
 
Why the sudden need to pay down our national debt? (Why is this coming up now?)
 
n order to pay down our national debt you would have to combine the GDP of China, Japan, and India.
The United States owes $68,400 per citizen.
The United States owes $183,000 per taxpayer.
The United States currently has $125 trillion (yes, trillion) in unfunded liabilities.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the US debt held by the public will reach 100 percent of GDP in 2028.
In 2008, interest on the federal debt was $253 billion. Interest for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 is roughly 89 percent higher.
For FY 2019, interest alone on the federal debt is $479 billion. In 1979, total federal government receipts were $463 billion.
In the year 2000, the federal debt was $5.67 trillion. In 2019, federal debt is 297 percent higher.
At Forbes, Jim Powell writes that the old New Deal cost about $50 billion from 1933 to 1940, whereas the “future cost of old New Deal programs still in effect is reckoned at more than $50 trillion.”
A recent analysis by the CBO projected that the federal budget deficit (deficit as in the difference between federal outlays and revenues) will grow to $1 trillion alone in 2020.
As of December 2018, only ten countries have worse Debt-to-GDP ratios than the United States.
At NPR, Danielle Kurtzleben writes that Senator Bernie Sanders’ “taxation-and-spending plans...would together add $18 trillion to the national debt over a decade.”
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, roughly 24 percent of federal spending goes to Social Security, 26 percent to federal health insurance programs, 9 percent to safety net programs, and only 2 percent on transportation infrastructure.
By 2025, the cost of servicing our national debt will exceed the cost of our military spending.
The cost of implementing a Universal Basic Income, presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s central social program proposal, would cost $3.8 trillion per year or roughly 85 percent of current federal spending.
It would take the United States 713,470 years to pay down the national debt if we paid $1 per second of the year.
Modern presidents have doubled the national debt every nine years.
The Federal Reserve “purchased large amounts of federal debt as part of its quantitative easing program,” thus cheapening the cost (decreasing the interest rates) of money.

Progressive lawmakers have largely refrained from discussing this liability, preferring to claim that the United States can continue to fund exorbitant government programs. Conservatives have unsuccessfully, on numerous occasions, attempted to limit federal outlays. With each failed attempt, conservatives instead continue to vote for spending increases. At the National Review, Michael Tanner writes,

there is no effort to prioritize or make the difficult choices of governing, there is only...more.

18 Facts on the US National Debt That Are Almost Too Hard to Believe - Foundation for Economic Education

19. The national debt is not real debt.
20. There is no need for the government to extinguish its liabilities.
21. "Paying down the debt," ironically, removes assets from the private sector (creditor).
 
19. The national debt is not real debt.
20. There is no need for the government to extinguish its liabilities.
21. "Paying down the debt," ironically, removes assets from the private sector (creditor).

21. No it doesn't it adds devalued cash back to the private sector.
 
Progressive lawmakers have largely refrained from discussing this liability, preferring to claim that the United States can continue to fund exorbitant government programs. Conservatives have unsuccessfully, on numerous occasions, attempted to limit federal outlays. With each failed attempt, conservatives instead continue to vote for spending increases. At the National Review, Michael Tanner writes,

there is no effort to prioritize or make the difficult choices of governing, there is only...more.


Klat, you left off some even more astounding facts about the national debt.

Conservatives only care about deficits when there is a democratic President.
Conservatives hilariously try to give republicans credit when republicans are the ones ballooning the deficit
 
In 2008, interest on the federal debt was $253 billion. Interest for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 is roughly 89 percent higher.
For FY 2019, interest alone on the federal debt is $479 billion.

These statements are straight up lies. Interest expense for FY 2019 will be $376 billion (+$52 billion more than FY 2018). Given that the source of this post is engaging in dishonesty, why should we take anything they have to say with little more than a grain of salt? Furthermore, why should anyone have respect for your opinion, as you are clearly here to push your ultra-regressive partisan agenda?

You claim to be an expert in this realm, but are unaware of the actual numbers. At the very best you're a wanna-be.
 
n order to pay down our national debt you would have to combine the GDP of China, Japan, and India.
The United States owes $68,400 per citizen.
The United States owes $183,000 per taxpayer.
The United States currently has $125 trillion (yes, trillion) in unfunded liabilities.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the US debt held by the public will reach 100 percent of GDP in 2028.
In 2008, interest on the federal debt was $253 billion. Interest for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 is roughly 89 percent higher.
For FY 2019, interest alone on the federal debt is $479 billion. In 1979, total federal government receipts were $463 billion.
In the year 2000, the federal debt was $5.67 trillion. In 2019, federal debt is 297 percent higher.
At Forbes, Jim Powell writes that the old New Deal cost about $50 billion from 1933 to 1940, whereas the “future cost of old New Deal programs still in effect is reckoned at more than $50 trillion.”
A recent analysis by the CBO projected that the federal budget deficit (deficit as in the difference between federal outlays and revenues) will grow to $1 trillion alone in 2020.
As of December 2018, only ten countries have worse Debt-to-GDP ratios than the United States.
At NPR, Danielle Kurtzleben writes that Senator Bernie Sanders’ “taxation-and-spending plans...would together add $18 trillion to the national debt over a decade.”
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, roughly 24 percent of federal spending goes to Social Security, 26 percent to federal health insurance programs, 9 percent to safety net programs, and only 2 percent on transportation infrastructure.
By 2025, the cost of servicing our national debt will exceed the cost of our military spending.
The cost of implementing a Universal Basic Income, presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s central social program proposal, would cost $3.8 trillion per year or roughly 85 percent of current federal spending.
It would take the United States 713,470 years to pay down the national debt if we paid $1 per second of the year.
Modern presidents have doubled the national debt every nine years.
The Federal Reserve “purchased large amounts of federal debt as part of its quantitative easing program,” thus cheapening the cost (decreasing the interest rates) of money.

Progressive lawmakers have largely refrained from discussing this liability, preferring to claim that the United States can continue to fund exorbitant government programs. Conservatives have unsuccessfully, on numerous occasions, attempted to limit federal outlays. With each failed attempt, conservatives instead continue to vote for spending increases. At the National Review, Michael Tanner writes,

there is no effort to prioritize or make the difficult choices of governing, there is only...more.

18 Facts on the US National Debt That Are Almost Too Hard to Believe - Foundation for Economic Education

I believe the US has 269 Trillion in assets? Which is roughly 1560% of GDP. (I could be wrong on this with the numbers)

22.8 trillion debt(s)
I think we are OK for now. But making sense out of the US financial report can make anyone's head hurt.
 
These statements are straight up lies. Interest expense for FY 2019 will be $376 billion (+$52 billion more than FY 2018). Given that the source of this post is engaging in dishonesty, why should we take anything they have to say with little more than a grain of salt? Furthermore, why should anyone have respect for your opinion, as you are clearly here to push your ultra-regressive partisan agenda?

You claim to be an expert in this realm, but are unaware of the actual numbers. At the very best you're a wanna-be.

Youre wrong on the interest number.
Interest on the National Debt and How it Affects You
The interest on the national debt is how much the federal government must pay on outstanding public debt each year. The interest on the debt is $479 billion. That's from the federal budget for fiscal year 2020 that runs from October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2020.
Please retract the rest of your statement or else be labeled a poltroon.
 
n order to pay down our national debt you would have to combine the GDP of China, Japan, and India.
The United States owes $68,400 per citizen.
The United States owes $183,000 per taxpayer.
The United States currently has $125 trillion (yes, trillion) in unfunded liabilities.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the US debt held by the public will reach 100 percent of GDP in 2028.
In 2008, interest on the federal debt was $253 billion. Interest for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 is roughly 89 percent higher.
For FY 2019, interest alone on the federal debt is $479 billion. In 1979, total federal government receipts were $463 billion.
In the year 2000, the federal debt was $5.67 trillion. In 2019, federal debt is 297 percent higher.
At Forbes, Jim Powell writes that the old New Deal cost about $50 billion from 1933 to 1940, whereas the “future cost of old New Deal programs still in effect is reckoned at more than $50 trillion.”
A recent analysis by the CBO projected that the federal budget deficit (deficit as in the difference between federal outlays and revenues) will grow to $1 trillion alone in 2020.
As of December 2018, only ten countries have worse Debt-to-GDP ratios than the United States.
At NPR, Danielle Kurtzleben writes that Senator Bernie Sanders’ “taxation-and-spending plans...would together add $18 trillion to the national debt over a decade.”
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, roughly 24 percent of federal spending goes to Social Security, 26 percent to federal health insurance programs, 9 percent to safety net programs, and only 2 percent on transportation infrastructure.
By 2025, the cost of servicing our national debt will exceed the cost of our military spending.
The cost of implementing a Universal Basic Income, presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s central social program proposal, would cost $3.8 trillion per year or roughly 85 percent of current federal spending.
It would take the United States 713,470 years to pay down the national debt if we paid $1 per second of the year.
Modern presidents have doubled the national debt every nine years.
The Federal Reserve “purchased large amounts of federal debt as part of its quantitative easing program,” thus cheapening the cost (decreasing the interest rates) of money.

Progressive lawmakers have largely refrained from discussing this liability, preferring to claim that the United States can continue to fund exorbitant government programs. Conservatives have unsuccessfully, on numerous occasions, attempted to limit federal outlays. With each failed attempt, conservatives instead continue to vote for spending increases. At the National Review, Michael Tanner writes,

there is no effort to prioritize or make the difficult choices of governing, there is only...more.

18 Facts on the US National Debt That Are Almost Too Hard to Believe - Foundation for Economic Education

Much of this is nonsense. I only have time to address a couple of points.

The $125 trillion in unfunded liabilities, all depends upon who is calculating it. The other thing to understand is while liabilities stretching into the future may be large (whatever the actual number is) so are receipts stretching into the future too. In other words, I may have a huge liability for my mortgage but I don't have to pay my entire mortgage now. All I need to do is have enough to pay each of my monthly payments. Likewise, the U.S. has no trouble paying it's liabilities based upon revenue.

Interest on the debt is a cost to Americans it is largely paid to other Americans which consider it is income.

This is the chart for interest over the last decade. I wonder why interest costs are rising? Couldn't possibly be the huge tax-cuts Republicans gave corporations and the rich.

usgs_line.php


I would like to see the link with the Danielle Kurtzleben statement. Bernie Sanders planned to pay for his plans by taxing the wealthy, not adding it to the debt.

The bottom line is that you can't complain about the debt and also want to lower taxes. The 2017 tax-cut should be reversed and taxes on the rich should return to 1970s levels.
 
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Youre wrong on the interest number.
Interest on the National Debt and How it Affects You
The interest on the national debt is how much the federal government must pay on outstanding public debt each year. The interest on the debt is $479 billion. That's from the federal budget for fiscal year 2020 that runs from October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2020.
Please retract the rest of your statement or else be labeled a poltroon.

There is a difference between gross and net.

From the CBO budget report (which you ignored) for October 2019:

Outlays for net interest on the public debt increased by $52 billion (or 14 percent) because interest rates on short-term debt were higher, on average, during fiscal year 2019 than they were during the same period in 2018 and because the federal debt is larger than it was a year ago.

Net interest for fiscal year 2018 was $324 billion. Therefore, $324 billion + $52 billion = $376 billion for FY 2019.

fredgraph.png


Even your own source shows an estimation for FY 2019 at $394 billion for FY 2019.

It's obvious you are ignorant of the data, and are only here to push a poorly informed partisan agenda while pretending to have something of value to say.

85d8ce04f2.png


:lol:
 
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T.

Interest on the debt is a cost to Americans it is largely paid to other Americans which consider it is income.

\ I wonder why interest costs are rising? Couldn't possibly be the huge tax-cuts Republicans gave corporations and the rich.


.
No . It's all about spending.
 
No . It's all about spending.

Ok, not even concerning paying off any of the accumulated debt, what do you propose to cut that would save a trillion dollars in just the annual deficit?

The defense budget for 2019 is $693 billion
Social Security is $1.102 trillion.
Medicare is $679 billion.
Medicaid is $418 billion.
Interest on the national debt is $479 billion.
 
Why the sudden need to pay down our national debt? (Why is this coming up now?)

Because a good economy is the best time to pay down the debt.
 
Ok, not even concerning paying off any of the accumulated debt, what do you propose to cut that would save a trillion dollars in just the annual deficit?

The defense budget for 2019 is $693 billion
Social Security is $1.102 trillion.
Medicare is $679 billion.
Medicaid is $418 billion.
Interest on the national debt is $479 billion.

The defense budget.....especially if we're not going to get involved in "regime change wars" anymore.
 
Because a good economy is the best time to pay down the debt.

Hah, tell that to Republicans that took us in the exact opposite direction.
 
Hah, tell that to Republicans that took us in the exact opposite direction.

It wouldn't do any good...they don't believe in Keynesian economics.
 
It wouldn't do any good...they don't believe in Keynesian economics.

When Keynes suggested paying down the debt, we were on the gold standard. That was real debt. Fiat currencies change all that.
 
When Keynes suggested paying down the debt, we were on the gold standard. That was real debt. Fiat currencies change all that.

The principle is the same. Go into debt in times of need and pay it off when times are good.
 
The principle is the same. Go into debt in times of need and pay it off when times are good.

No, the principle is not at all the same. There is no true debt with fiat currency. There is no operational need for the government to extinguish its liabilities.
 
No, the principle is not at all the same. There is no true debt with fiat currency. There is no operational need for the government to extinguish its liabilities.

How do other countries feel about that?

Some economists say that if the debt exceeds 75% to 80% of GDP then worry because it will slow the economy down. Currently, the US debt is over 100% of GDP and the economy is due for a bear market.

A study by the World Bank found that countries whose debt-to-GDP ratios exceeds 77% for prolonged periods, experience significant slowdowns in economic growth. Pointedly: every percentage point of debt above this level costs countries 1.7% in economic growth. This phenomenon is even more pronounced in emerging markets, where each additional percentage point of debt over 64%, annually slows growth by 2%.

The Definition of Debt-to-GDP Ratio
 
How do other countries feel about that?

Some economists say that if the debt exceeds 75% to 80% of GDP then worry because it will slow the economy down. Currently, the US debt is over 100% of GDP and the economy is due for a bear market.

A study by the World Bank found that countries whose debt-to-GDP ratios exceeds 77% for prolonged periods, experience significant slowdowns in economic growth. Pointedly: every percentage point of debt above this level costs countries 1.7% in economic growth. This phenomenon is even more pronounced in emerging markets, where each additional percentage point of debt over 64%, annually slows growth by 2%.

The Definition of Debt-to-GDP Ratio

That line of thinking has been thoroughly debunked.

Consider this: a slowing economy causes increased debt, not the other way around. Tax receipts fall, and federal spending stays about the same, with some increases due to normal fiscal policy during slow years. Same data, better correlation, and much more logical.
 
That line of thinking has been thoroughly debunked.

Consider this: a slowing economy causes increased debt, not the other way around. Tax receipts fall, and federal spending stays about the same, with some increases due to normal fiscal policy during slow years. Same data, better correlation, and much more logical.

No, it hasn't.

Then a growing economy shouldn't increase the debt, right? Yet, Trump has added 2 Trillion to the debt in a growing economy. Why?
 
No, it hasn't.

Then a growing economy shouldn't increase the debt, right? Yet, Trump has added 2 Trillion to the debt in a growing economy. Why?

Savings, which is a demand leakage. Without that deficit spending, the economy would have contracted.
 
Savings, which is a demand leakage. Without that deficit spending, the economy would have contracted.

Savings? What is Trump saving?

Sounds like your saying that's it been a weak economy for a long time if it still needs deficit spending to meet it's obligations.
 
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