Monday, June 01, 2009
For all the talk about increased spending by the Obama administration and its consequences on the national debt, it needs to be pointed out that a hefty chunk of debt got dumped on the country just last year. According to an analysis by USA Today, the U.S. government borrowed $6.8 trillion in 2008, raising the total owed to a record $63.8 trillion—which comes out to $546,668 per household in the United States. The average American family has personal debt of $122,000.
The increased borrowing last year represented a 12% increase in government obligations, and stemmed from efforts by the Bush administration to deal with the recession and meet rising costs in Medicare and Social Security.
“We have a huge implicit mortgage on every household in America—except, unlike a real mortgage, it’s not backed up by a house,” said David Walker, former U.S. comptroller general.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Leap in U.S. Debt Hits Taxpayers with 12% More Red Ink (by Dennis Cauchon, USA Today)
Bureau of the Public Debt (AllGov)
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