USA National Debt Tracker

[Vambram]

National Debt Tracker: American taxpayers (you) are now on the hook for $36,215,685,263,667.36 as of 6/9/25

The U.S. national debt is climbing at a rapid pace, on track to double over the next three decades amid a rush of spending by President Biden and Congress.

www.foxbusiness.com

National Debt Tracker: American taxpayers (you) are now on the hook for $36,167,604,149,955.61 as of 12/19/24

The U.S. national debt is climbing at a rapid pace and has shown no signs of slowing down, despite the growing criticism of massive levels of government spending.

The national debt — which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors — fell to $36,167,604,149,955.61 as of December 19th, according to the latest numbers published by the Treasury Department. That is down about $21.7 billion from the figure reported the previous day.

By comparison, just four decades ago, the national debt hovered around $907 billion.

The outlook for the federal debt level is bleak, with economists increasingly sounding the alarm over the torrid pace of spending by Congress and the White House. Interest payments on the debt for the government's fiscal year, which begins in October, now exceed the costs of Medicare and the defense budget.

The latest findings from the Congressional Budget Office indicate that the national debt will grow to an astonishing $54 trillion in the next decade, the result of an aging population and fishing federal health care costs. Higher interest rates are also compounding the pain of higher debt.

Should that debt materialize, it could risk America's economic standing in the world.

"America’s fiscal outlook is more dangerous and daunting than ever, threatening our economy and the next generation," said Michael Peterson, the CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation that advocates for reducing the federal deficit. "This is not the future any of us want, and it’s no way to run a great nation like ours."

 

[Nithavela]

National Debt Tracker: American taxpayers (you) are now on the hook for $36,215,685,263,667.36 as of 6/9/25

The U.S. national debt is climbing at a rapid pace, on track to double over the next three decades amid a rush of spending by President Biden and Congress.

www.foxbusiness.com

National Debt Tracker: American taxpayers (you) are now on the hook for $36,167,604,149,955.61 as of 12/19/24

The U.S. national debt is climbing at a rapid pace and has shown no signs of slowing down, despite the growing criticism of massive levels of government spending.

The national debt — which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors — fell to $36,167,604,149,955.61 as of December 19th, according to the latest numbers published by the Treasury Department. That is down about $21.7 billion from the figure reported the previous day.

By comparison, just four decades ago, the national debt hovered around $907 billion.

The outlook for the federal debt level is bleak, with economists increasingly sounding the alarm over the torrid pace of spending by Congress and the White House. Interest payments on the debt for the government's fiscal year, which begins in October, now exceed the costs of Medicare and the defense budget.

The latest findings from the Congressional Budget Office indicate that the national debt will grow to an astonishing $54 trillion in the next decade, the result of an aging population and fishing federal health care costs. Higher interest rates are also compounding the pain of higher debt.

Should that debt materialize, it could risk America's economic standing in the world.

"America’s fiscal outlook is more dangerous and daunting than ever, threatening our economy and the next generation," said Michael Peterson, the CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation that advocates for reducing the federal deficit. "This is not the future any of us want, and it’s no way to run a great nation like ours."

And it will continue to climb no matter who's in power.

 

[Vambram]

And it will continue to climb no matter who's in power.

I pray that doesn't happen. Because if you're right, then the USA economy is going to have a severe crash of epic proportions.

 

[rambot]

Yes.

You should put a meaningful wealth tax in place.

There is no where else to get the money.

 

[wing2000]

I pray that doesn't happen. Because if you're right, then the USA economy is going to have a severe crash of epic proportions.

Why do you think Trump wants to remove the debt ceiling, calling it critical to carrying out his agenda?

 

[Vambram]

Why do you think Trump wants to remove the debt ceiling, calling it critical to carrying out his agenda?

I don't know.

 

[Vambram]

Yes.

You should put a meaningful wealth tax in place.

There is no where else to get the money.

Please explain some of the details and ideas you have for a meaningful wealth tax.

 

[durangodawood]

I'm curious how the fight between Republican debt hawks in congress and Trump who loves a deficit funded free for all will go

 

[rambot]

Please explain some of the details and ideas you have for a meaningful wealth tax.

I don't have any.

Please help me to understand how having hordes of wealth removed from the economy is healthy for an economy.

ps. It probably is a good idea to get these threads in before Trump is president and we never hear from the "Fiscal hawk republicans" anymore.

 

[Vambram]

I don't have any.

Please help me to understand how having hordes of wealth removed from the economy is healthy for an economy.

I'm not sure that I understand exactly what you are asking. Please explain.

 

[Nithavela]

I pray that doesn't happen. Because if you're right, then the USA economy is going to have a severe crash of epic proportions.

Who exactly are you praying to?

 

[Vambram]

Who exactly are you praying to?

Is that a serious question?

 

[Nithavela]

Is that a serious question?

Yes.

I can't recall god saving any economys in the bible.

 

[RocksInMyHead]

I'm not sure that I understand exactly what you are asking. Please explain.

Generally speaking, individual wealth does not contribute significantly to the economy. Money held in mutual funds, stocks, bonds, cash, gold, real estate, etc is more or less out of circulation.

 

[Say it aint so]

Please explain some of the details and ideas you have for a meaningful wealth tax.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act lowered the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. Their effective tax rate dropped from 16% to 9%. In its first year, the number of companies paying no taxes went from 30 to 60. That was 2019. I'm sure that number is higher now. One meaningful tax on large corporations, to me, would be for these corps to have an AMT mandatory percentage they must pay.

 

[Pommer]

Running out of “money” is the exact same thing as running out of time, with the exception that we can make “more” money.

 

[Richard T]

National Debt Tracker: American taxpayers (you) are now on the hook for $36,215,685,263,667.36 as of 6/9/25

The U.S. national debt is climbing at a rapid pace, on track to double over the next three decades amid a rush of spending by President Biden and Congress.

www.foxbusiness.com

National Debt Tracker: American taxpayers (you) are now on the hook for $36,167,604,149,955.61 as of 12/19/24

The U.S. national debt is climbing at a rapid pace and has shown no signs of slowing down, despite the growing criticism of massive levels of government spending.

The national debt — which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors — fell to $36,167,604,149,955.61 as of December 19th, according to the latest numbers published by the Treasury Department. That is down about $21.7 billion from the figure reported the previous day.

By comparison, just four decades ago, the national debt hovered around $907 billion.

The outlook for the federal debt level is bleak, with economists increasingly sounding the alarm over the torrid pace of spending by Congress and the White House. Interest payments on the debt for the government's fiscal year, which begins in October, now exceed the costs of Medicare and the defense budget.

The latest findings from the Congressional Budget Office indicate that the national debt will grow to an astonishing $54 trillion in the next decade, the result of an aging population and fishing federal health care costs. Higher interest rates are also compounding the pain of higher debt.

Should that debt materialize, it could risk America's economic standing in the world.

"America’s fiscal outlook is more dangerous and daunting than ever, threatening our economy and the next generation," said Michael Peterson, the CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation that advocates for reducing the federal deficit. "This is not the future any of us want, and it’s no way to run a great nation like ours."

I will just add that the real number to watch is debt to GDP. This is still quite high 123% for the USA, but it is 260% for Japan. In case you did not notice Japan hardly raised interest rates in spite of some higher inflation in the last couple of years. Their currency is tanking, and I think they are the ones that will spin the system out of control.
Consider too that if you raise inflation 10% you just made the debt more manageable. So all they need to do is balance the budget a few years and the debt to gdp would be going down at least a few % per year.
To me the biggest problem would be another event like a war, pandemic, natural disasters on an even bigger scale and it will be tough to manage without some very serious inflation. Please note too that the Federal Reserve is complicit in this debt scheme. They were the ones buying trillions of the extra debt. So far they are buying a little back each month but in a sense they were on the front lines to make the USA a borrower that is slave to the "lender" of which 5 trillion the Federal Reserve has. Federal Debt Held by Federal Reserve Banks
It is interesting too that after earning interest on the 5 trillion and paying all their expenses, the Federal Reserve gives the profit they make back to the Treasury. This too helps balance the budget but seems quite questionable making it possible to create inflation by buying more debt and increasing the money supply, while at the same time earning interest.

Also, why are US taxpayers paying for them to travel and have annual meetings at Jackson Hole, WY resorts every year? Absurd!!!

Another questionable fact about US debt is how they manage the social security trust fund. The trust fund is given IOU's but they never actually borrow the money. Instead they base the interest rate they pay to the trust fund on a mathematical average of certain U.S. debts. Imagine if they actually had to borrow that money? The interest rate to borrow the extra trillion would drive interest rates higher, good for the trust fund but bad for the U.S. government.

Like Enron there are other off the books, debt that the US government carries. This source says it is 80 trillion.

'Staggering' Volume of Off-Balance Sheet Dollar Debt Is Partly Hidden

The Bank for International Settlements says there could be as much as $80 trillion of off-balance sheet debt in the foreign exchange market, held by non-US institutions.

www.investopedia.com

I will admit there are many scams. These only work too because nearly every nation is indebted so only when a major one like Japan goes off the rails with currency will it signal an end to the greatest expansion of money the world has ever seen.
Lastly, please don't think any large nation could back money with gold, silver etc. There is not even close to the amount that would be needed. Fortunately, you can buy gold and silver yourself, at least for now.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says U.S. could hit debt limit in weeks​

"Treasury expects to hit the statutory debt ceiling between January 14 and January 23," Yellen wrote in a letter addressed to House and Senate leadership, at which point extraordinary measures would be used to prevent the government from breaching the nation's debt ceiling — which has been suspended until Jan. 1, 2025.

The department has in the past deployed what are known as "extraordinary measures" or accounting maneuvers to keep the government operating. But once those measures run out the government risks defaulting on its debt unless lawmakers and the president agree to lift the limit on the U.S. government's ability to borrow.

 

[Canuckster]

I pray that doesn't happen. Because if you're right, then the USA economy is going to have a severe crash of epic proportions.

I've heard from some that Trump may abolish the private Federal Reserve. If done properly this would solve the debt crisis. As is, the US debt is unsustainable. Something extraordinary has to be done or the nation will eventually crash (go bankrupt)

 

[Vambram]

I've heard from some that Trump may abolish the private Federal Reserve. If done properly this would solve the debt crisis. As is, the US debt is unsustainable. Something extraordinary has to be done or the nation will eventually crash (go bankrupt)

What would be the proper way to abolish the private Federal Reserve?