How much do we owe?
Critical Analysis
Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:
The national debt as share of GDP or the national debt-to-GDP ratio is the metric comparing a country's public debt to its gross domestic product (GDP). By comparing what a country owes with what it produces, the debt-to-GDP ratio reliably indicates that particular country’s ability to pay back its debts. According to the data from the chart above, what was the debt (what the US owed) to GDP (what the US had) ratio in 1946?
According to the data from the chart above, what was the debt-to-GDP ratio in 2000?
According to the data from the chart above, what is the debt-to-GDP ratio now?
Describe the trend in the ratio of debt to GDP over the past 80 years.
Why do you think that is?
How much do you think the current debt-to-GDP impacted the 2024 presidential election?
Sometime in the next two years, the federal debt will likely cross a worrisome threshold: It will exceed the size of the country’s annual economic output (or G.D.P.) for the first time since 1946. In the chart above, notice what happened to the ratio of debt to GDP during the presidents of Reagan (R), Obama (D), Trump (R), and Biden (D). Make a claim about who is to blame for the current level of debt in the US.
In Federalist No. 51, James Madison wrote, “But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?” Based on the current debt level and Madison’s quote, what do you think James Freaking Madison would say about our current national level of debt?
Already, the costs of high federal debt are evident. About one-seventh of all federal spending this year will cover interest payments on debt the government previously accumulated. That’s almost as much as it will spend this year on Medicare and more than it will spend on the military. (Social Security remains almost twice as expensive as Medicare, the military or debt interest.) Over time, interest payments will account for an even larger share of the federal budget, leaving less money for everything else. The interest payments mean that the longer the government waits to deal with its growing debt, the more painful the solution will need to be. What are some programs that will have to be reduced in order to pay the increasing interest on the debt?
The U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio was 121.85% as of December 2024. This means the total federal debt is 121.85% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The average GDP for fiscal year 2024 was $28.83 trillion, while the U.S. debt was $35.46 trillion. Projections show that the debt-to-GDP ratio will likely increase by 2036. As debt increases our government will be less able to do things like build roads, fund research, even defend our country. When do you think our debt-to-GDP ratio will get so high that it will impact your daily life?
Write and Discuss
Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.
Act on your Learning
Call or email your U.S. Senator and let them know what you think about the debt.
Get Creative
If the U.S. debt were a sport team, what team would it be?
