America's Debt Crisis Explained
Fact: America's national debt stands at $17 trillion. That's a tough number to grasp. Most people will never come close to making $1 million in any given year. How can we understand the magnitude of the hole our country is in? Well, imagine you owed your credit card company $200,000. On top of that you have to pay them about $4,000 per year in interest. You are bringing in $150,000 per year, but you are spending way more than that. How are you going to ever pay back that $200,000 debt? And what happens if you default? Well, that is America today. The problem is clear. And we brought Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, to propose a solution.
How much debt does America have?
10 Billion19 Trillion17 Trillion70 BillionInvestors currently believe the United States is a safe investment, but at some point, investors won't want to invest in America because:
They don't agree with the political affiliation of the government.America is in too much debt and it is a bad risk.They are not patriots.The private sector is more lucrative.In 2010, investors realized that Greece was a bad investment because:
There was no way Greece could possibly pay them back.The government was socialist.Businesses in Greece were not paying taxes.All of the above.When the interest rates on America's debt inevitably rises from 2% to 5%, the US will get the money from:
Raising taxes, which cuts economic growth.Borrowing more money, which pushes the US further into debt.Printing more money.Both A and B.The best way out of our debt crisis is:
To cut spending.To get more investors.To grow the economy.Both A and C.
- America’s debt is approaching $20 trillion. When unfunded liabilities are included, it’s actually over $90 trillion. This is unsustainable.
Total U.S. debt is now around $20 trillion—nearly doubling since January 2009, when it stood at $10.6 trillion.
View sourceWhen unfunded liabilities are included, the real U.S. debt is over $90 trillion.
View sourceSince 2012, the U.S. has been consistently operating with a debt that is greater than the GDP of the entire country.
View sourceAccording to the Congressional Budget Office, by 2022 the U.S. will add at least an additional $1 trillion in debt every year.
View sourceWATCH: Cato Institute fellow Michael D. Tanner on America’s debt crisis.
View sourceRelated reading: Going for Broke: Deficits, Debt, and the Entitlement Crisis – Michael D. Tanner
View source- America is facing a debt crisis. Our debt has doubled since 2008, reaching an economy-threatening $20 trillion dollars.
Total U.S. debt is now around $20 trillion—nearly doubling since January 2009, when it stood at $10.6 trillion.
View sourceWhen unfunded liabilities are included, the real U.S. debt is over $90 trillion.
View sourceSince 2012, the U.S. has been consistently operating with a debt that is greater than the GDP of the entire country.
View sourceAccording to the Congressional Budget Office, by 2022 the U.S. will add at least an additional $1 trillion in debt every year.
View sourceWATCH: Cato Institute fellow Michael D. Tanner on America’s debt crisis.
View sourceRelated reading: Going for Broke: Deficits, Debt, and the Entitlement Crisis – Michael D. Tanner
View source- America’s debt is now larger than its annual GDP. That’s a very big problem.
Since 2012, the U.S. has been consistently operating with a debt that is greater than the GDP of the entire country.
View sourceTotal U.S. debt is now around $20 trillion—nearly doubling since January 2009, when it stood at $10.6 trillion.
View sourceWhen unfunded liabilities are included, the real U.S. debt is over $90 trillion.
View sourceAccording to the Congressional Budget Office, by 2022 the U.S. will add at least an additional $1 trillion in debt every year.
View sourceWATCH: Cato Institute fellow Michael D. Tanner on America’s debt crisis.
View sourceRelated reading: Going for Broke: Deficits, Debt, and the Entitlement Crisis – Michael D. Tanner
View source- America’s debt has ballooned to nearly $20 trillion, yet politicians rarely discuss it.
Americans are becoming less concerned about the debt. In 2013, 72% of America’s thought reducing the budget deficit was a top priority. In 2016, only 56% agreed.
View sourceTotal U.S. debt is now around $20 trillion—nearly doubling since January 2009, when it stood at $10.6 trillion.
View sourceWhen unfunded liabilities are included, the real U.S. debt is over $90 trillion.
View sourceAccording to the Congressional Budget Office, by 2022 the U.S. will add at least an additional $1 trillion in debt every year.
View sourceWATCH: Cato Institute fellow Michael D. Tanner on America’s debt crisis.
View sourceRelated reading: Going for Broke: Deficits, Debt, and the Entitlement Crisis – Michael D. Tanner
View source- For now, low interest rates are lessening the magnitude of the U.S. government’s debt. If rates increase, the debt will be unsustainable.
The U.S. has long been considered a safe haven for foreign capital during times of financial or political stress. More than a third (34%) of U.S. debt is held by foreign entities.
View sourceAmerica’s position as the world’s reserve currency has allowed it to borrow cheaply for decades in order to finance military engagements, bailouts, and other high-dollar priorities. The political result of having so much foreign-held debt creates inherent instability should there be a world-wide sell-off of U.S. debt, which would lead to increased interest rates and unsustainable debt service payments that the U.S. could not possibly afford.
View sourceWATCH: Cato Institute fellow Michael D. Tanner on America’s debt crisis.
View sourceRelated reading: Going for Broke: Deficits, Debt, and the Entitlement Crisis – Michael D. Tanner
View source- More than a third of U.S. debt is held by foreign entities. This gives dangerous leverage to countries who want to harm the United States.
The U.S. has long been considered a safe haven for foreign capital during times of financial or political stress. More than a third (34%) of U.S. debt is held by foreign entities.
View sourceAmerica’s position as the world’s reserve currency has allowed it to borrow cheaply for decades in order to finance military engagements, bailouts, and other high-dollar priorities. The political result of having so much foreign-held debt creates inherent instability should there be a world-wide sell-off of U.S. debt, which would lead to increased interest rates and unsustainable debt service payments that the U.S. could not possibly afford.
View sourceWATCH: Cato Institute fellow Michael D. Tanner on America’s debt crisis.
View sourceRelated reading: Going for Broke: Deficits, Debt, and the Entitlement Crisis – Michael D. Tanner
View source- What happens if America keeps borrowing money? The same thing that happened to Greece: economic collapse.
While America and Greece have some significant differences, including America’s size and the complexity of the U.S. economy, America is headed in the same direction as Greece—which amassed so much debt that its credit, and thus its economy, collapsed.
View sourceAccording to the Congressional Budget Office, by 2022 the U.S. will add at least an additional $1 trillion in debt every year.
View sourceWhen unfunded liabilities are included, the real U.S. debt is over $90 trillion.
View sourceSince 2012, the U.S. has been consistently operating with a debt that is greater than the GDP of the entire country.
View sourceWATCH: Cato Institute fellow Michael D. Tanner on America’s debt crisis.
View sourceRelated reading: Going for Broke: Deficits, Debt, and the Entitlement Crisis – Michael D. Tanner
View source- The first step in solving America’s debt crisis is reducing federal spending.
The debt crisis facing America has only one solution: growing the economy while reducing government spending. Raising taxes is not a viable solution, as increasing taxes would hamper the growth of the U.S. economy. The best path forward is to decrease spending and reform entitlement programs like Social Security, while looking for ways to encourage economic growth.
View sourceTotal U.S. debt is now around $20 trillion—nearly doubling since January 2009, when it stood at $10.6 trillion.
View sourceWhen unfunded liabilities are included, the real U.S. debt is over $90 trillion.
View sourceAccording to the Congressional Budget Office, by 2022 the U.S. will add at least an additional $1 trillion in debt every year.
View sourceWATCH: Cato Institute fellow Michael D. Tanner on America’s debt crisis.
View sourceRelated reading: Going for Broke: Deficits, Debt, and the Entitlement Crisis – Michael D. Tanner
View source- There is only one way to solve the U.S. debt crisis: cut government spending and grow the economy.
The debt crisis facing America has only one solution: growing the economy while reducing government spending. Raising taxes is not a viable solution, as increasing taxes would hamper the growth of the U.S. economy. The best path forward is to decrease spending and reform entitlement programs like Social Security, while looking for ways to encourage economic growth.
View sourceTotal U.S. debt is now around $20 trillion—nearly doubling since January 2009, when it stood at $10.6 trillion.
View sourceWhen unfunded liabilities are included, the real U.S. debt is over $90 trillion.
View sourceAccording to the Congressional Budget Office, by 2022 the U.S. will add at least an additional $1 trillion in debt every year.
View sourceWATCH: Cato Institute fellow Michael D. Tanner on America’s debt crisis.
View sourceRelated reading: Going for Broke: Deficits, Debt, and the Entitlement Crisis – Michael D. Tanner
View source- It’s politically incorrect but true that social security, Medicare and Medicaid are driving the US government’s unsustainable level of debt.
The debt crisis facing America has only one solution: growing the economy while reducing government spending. Raising taxes is not a viable solution, as increasing taxes would hamper the growth of the U.S. economy. The best path forward is to decrease spending and reform entitlement programs like Social Security, while looking for ways to encourage economic growth.
View sourceTotal U.S. debt is now around $20 trillion—nearly doubling since January 2009, when it stood at $10.6 trillion.
View sourceWhen unfunded liabilities are included, the real U.S. debt is over $90 trillion.
View sourceAccording to the Congressional Budget Office, by 2022 the U.S. will add at least an additional $1 trillion in debt every year.
View sourceWATCH: Cato Institute fellow Michael D. Tanner on America’s debt crisis.
View sourceRelated reading: Going for Broke: Deficits, Debt, and the Entitlement Crisis – Michael D. Tanner
View source- America is in debt not because taxes aren’t high enough, but because government spending is far too high.
The debt crisis facing America has only one solution: growing the economy while reducing government spending. Raising taxes is not a viable solution, as increasing taxes would hamper the growth of the U.S. economy. The best path forward is to decrease spending and reform entitlement programs like Social Security, while looking for ways to encourage economic growth.
View sourceTotal U.S. debt is now around $20 trillion—nearly doubling since January 2009, when it stood at $10.6 trillion.
View sourceWhen unfunded liabilities are included, the real U.S. debt is over $90 trillion.
View sourceWATCH: Cato Institute fellow Michael D. Tanner on America’s debt crisis.
View sourceRelated reading: Going for Broke: Deficits, Debt, and the Entitlement Crisis – Michael D. Tanner
View source
If you are under, say, 30, you have a tsunami-sized problem coming toward you, and you probably don’t even know it. That killer wave is the national debt.
Countries, like people, go into debt when they spend more than they have. You and I buy things with the money we earn. Governments buy things with money they get from taxes. When spending outstrips revenue, the government is “in the hole.” Right now, the hole is $17 trillion dollars deep.
This is an incomprehensible number. What is a trillion dollars, let alone $17 or 20 trillion? Common analogies like “you’d have to stack $1 bills 67,000 miles high to reach the current debt,” though impressive-sounding, don’t help much, if it all. So, let’s bring the problem down to earth.
Right now, most investors believe the United States is a safe bet. They believe, in other words, that they’ll get the money they loan to the US back with interest. But this can’t go on indefinitely.
At some point investors are going to say, “you have too much debt; you’re a bad risk. No more money.” What happens then?
We don’t have to guess. We can look at Europe, specifically Greece. Investors were happy to loan Greece money until 2010, when it finally dawned on them that Greece couldn’t possibly pay them back. Almost overnight, Greece became a very bad credit risk and the economy went into a death spiral. Businesses failed. Thousands were thrown out of work. The government couldn’t pay its bills. Germany and the other European economies had to step in and bail Greece out. But the Greeks suffered terribly. The same thing happened in Portugal and Spain.
Yes, the United States is much, much bigger than Greece and has a much more dynamic economy. That’s true. But the principle doesn’t change. We can borrow more money than Greece, but sooner or later, investors will say “no more.” And if they ever do, our economy will go into the same downward spiral the Greek economy did.
Here’s another point. At the time I am giving this course, the interest on our debt is very low, around 2%. But what happens when the interest rate rises from 2% to the much more normal 5% -- as it inevitably will? Where is the U.S. going to get the money to pay the higher interest on its enormous debt? Do we borrow even more? Well, that just gets us deeper in debt. Raise taxes? Well, that cuts economic growth.
Then there’s the question of who these investors are who are loaning us all this money.
The biggest investor right now is China, not exactly a trusted ally. The more money they loan us, the more influence they have over us. Maybe they’ll never exercise this power, but do we really want to give them the option?
And consider one final point: is it moral to saddle future generations with this massive debt they had little or nothing do with? How would you feel about yourself if you knew that you were leaving your children on the hook for debts you incurred during your life? You had a great time living in a big house, driving a nice car, but you never paid for these things. You’ve left it to your son or daughter to pick up the tab.
That’s why the people who should care the most about the national debt are young people.
They’re the ones who will be stuck with the bill. Seniors and even those who are now in middle age, the ones who took on all this debt, might be able to shrug it off, but young people in their thirties or younger can’t or at least shouldn’t.
Is there a good way out? Yes, there is. If the economy grows robustly, the government will take in more revenue. And it can then use that increased revenue to pay the debt down.
The second way out of debt is to cut spending. If we spend more than we take in, which is what we’ve been doing, we’re going to go deeper and deeper into debt. Common sense would suggest that we bring our revenue, the money the government takes in in taxes, and our spending in line. If you combine the two -- robust growth and reduced spending -- we have a real chance to get control of our national finances.
So, is the debt a big problem? If you worried just about tomorrow, probably not. But if you’re worried about the future and, especially, if you have a lot of future in front of you, yes, it is a really big problem - as big as a tsunami.
I’m Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute for Prager University.
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