This ignores $2.466 trillion of US treasuries and $1.771 trillion of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities owned by the Federal Res

This ignores $2.466 trillion of US treasuries and $1.771 trillion of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities owned by the Federal Reserve.[a] Although the Fed, as the US's central bank, operates independently of the federal government, its balance sheet should properly be consolidated. The largest financial assets owned by the US federal government are therefore US treasuries and government-sponsored-entity mortgage securities, not student debt.[b] -- [a] Figures are as of November 2017. See page 12 here: https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/quarterly_balance_sheet_developments_report_201711.pdf https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/quarterl... [b] Many people don't realize or understand that the largest creditor of the US federal government is the US federal government, through the Federal reserve. The US federal government currently pays interest on $2.466 trillion of treasuries to the Federal Reserve, which, at the end of each year, sends all that interest back to the US Treasury.