National Debt

Debt Free…..what a concept!  With our Federal Government Debt now in excess of $12 trillion, is it realistic to think that the United States can ever be debt free again?

The short answer is “probably not”.  The United States has had a national debt since the days of the Revolutionary War, with the exception of one brief period.   In 1835, under President Andrew Jackson, the national debt was totally paid off, and for a brief period, the United States was debt free.  But our federal government Read the rest of this entry »

So what is the deficit anyway?

Each year, Congress and the President approve a budget outlining projected tax revenues for the year and projected expenditures for the year.  The Budget of the United States Federal Government is a massive document detailing taxation and spending in the trillions of dollars. 

If budgeted tax revenues exceed budgeted expenditures for a given year, then the federal government is said to have a budget surplus for that year (this is rare).  If budgeted expenditures exceed budgeted tax revenues, then the federal government is said to have a budget deficit for that year (this is normally the case). 

When there is a budget deficit, the federal government has to Read the rest of this entry »

National Debt can be a pretty confusing topic to the average American.  We hear news reports about the National Debt and the Budget Deficit, but most people aren’t totally clear about what those terms mean.  Most people know that we have a big national debt, and they assume that’s not a good thing, but that may be just about all they understand about the topic.  If you find yourself getting confused about the National Debt, this post is intended to help you understand it in very simple terms.  Read the rest of this entry »

This article addresses the Per Capita Debt calculation of the United States National Debt.  As I write this article, the National Debt is approximately $12.1 trillion according to the Treasury Department.  According to Census Bureau estimates, there are approximately 115 million households in the United States with a total U.S. population of 308 million.

So using the above figures from the U.S. Government, we can calculate the following per capita debt figures. Read the rest of this entry »

What is the debt solution when it comes to America’s national debt?  We hear our politicians talk about the “need” to reduce our national debt, but month after month the federal government debt keeps rising.  The counter below gives an approximation of the national debt at this very moment.  I think you’ll notice it’s going UP, not down! Read the rest of this entry »

Deficit….Debt.  Are they the same thing, and if not, then what’s the difference?

The terms National Debt and Budget Deficit can be very confusing when it comes to discussing United States government spending.  The terms often get used interchangeably, but they are not at all the same thing.  Even among politicians and news reporters, it’s not unusual for them to refer to the National Debt when they are really talking about the Budget Deficit, and vice versa.  So in this post, I want to explain the difference between the two terms. Read the rest of this entry »