The National Debt
I did a little research on the National Debt. The Dept of the Treasury website (especially the bureau known as the Financial Management Service) has a bunch of great information about this thing politicians talk about – yet most folks haven’t the slightest clue about.
By the end of Dec ’04 the National Debt was $7.6 trillion. Of this, $4.4 trillion consisted of marketable securities (bonds, T-bills, etc.) and the remaining $3.2 trillion was composed of intergovernmental holdings.
I think there’s a general misconception about how much of the National Debt is “owned” by foreign governments. While it is true that China is the second-largest holder of U.S. debt at somewhere between $175-200 billion, this is a paltry sum in comparison to Japan, which holds in the neighborhood of $700 billion. But let’s put this into perspective:
- About 24% of the National Debt is foreign-owned.
- The Chinese Central Bank owns about 11% of all foreign-owned US debt or about 2% of the entire public debt.
Other Facts
- The Gross Domestic Product for 2004 was about $11.7 trillion. Treasury Department Gross Tax Collections for 2003 totaled $1.88 trillion.
- Federal outlays totaled $2.29 trillion, which put last year’s federal budget deficit at $412.1 billion.
- 19.8% of federal outlays or $454 billion went to defense.
- $1.2 trillion or 52% of last year’s federal outlays went to entitlement programs (
- It’s estimated that the public debt grows at a rate of $1 billion each day. The GDP increased by roughly 6% last year, which amounts to $2 billion each day.
- Bill Gates’ wealth is accumulating at a rate of 29% annually. If this continues, he’ll be a trillionaire by 2018.
By the end of Dec ’04 the National Debt was $7.6 trillion. Of this, $4.4 trillion consisted of marketable securities (bonds, T-bills, etc.) and the remaining $3.2 trillion was composed of intergovernmental holdings.
I think there’s a general misconception about how much of the National Debt is “owned” by foreign governments. While it is true that China is the second-largest holder of U.S. debt at somewhere between $175-200 billion, this is a paltry sum in comparison to Japan, which holds in the neighborhood of $700 billion. But let’s put this into perspective:
- About 24% of the National Debt is foreign-owned.
- The Chinese Central Bank owns about 11% of all foreign-owned US debt or about 2% of the entire public debt.
Other Facts
- The Gross Domestic Product for 2004 was about $11.7 trillion. Treasury Department Gross Tax Collections for 2003 totaled $1.88 trillion.
- Federal outlays totaled $2.29 trillion, which put last year’s federal budget deficit at $412.1 billion.
- 19.8% of federal outlays or $454 billion went to defense.
- $1.2 trillion or 52% of last year’s federal outlays went to entitlement programs (
- It’s estimated that the public debt grows at a rate of $1 billion each day. The GDP increased by roughly 6% last year, which amounts to $2 billion each day.
- Bill Gates’ wealth is accumulating at a rate of 29% annually. If this continues, he’ll be a trillionaire by 2018.
posted by L. E. Howard, Jr. | 7:44 AM
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