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Trillion. Here's a chart of debt as a proportion of GDP: http://dailyreckoning.com/dr-content/uploads/2015/06/Historical-US-Debt.jpg http://dailyreckoning.com

• forgetsusername 11y ago
  Why is it that people always talk about only one side of the accounting ledger? The US has a net worth of nearly $150 trillion dollars. Who cares about the absolute value of debt?
  • vetinari 11y ago
    That $150 trillion - is that book value, or fair value?
    • forgetsusername 11y ago
      I assume it's a combination of both; I very much doubt that all ~$250 TRILLION in assets are being marked-to-market. And, being as how both assets and liabilities will use the same accounting measure, I don't think it matters.
  • zanny 11y ago
    That's not absolute debt, that is debt relative to GDP as a percentage. Its a measure of, effectively, how long it would take the US to pay off its debt if it forced itself to operate in the green, since there is a limit on how much you can tax out of an economy without causing it to contract, and GDP is a flawed but relative measure of what you can potentially tax.
    • forgetsusername 11y ago
      So where is the equivalent graph showing the rate of growth of assets as a percentage of GDP? It's one sided accounting that people love to trot out as a big scary thing. The net worth of the US is growing; what else matters?
  • mikeash 11y ago
    The federal government doesn't own the entire country. What's the net worth of the federal government?
    • Qwertious 11y ago
      It's a function that takes into account how much it can tax the entire country, of course.