Paying Their Dues: How the U.S. National Debt Affects You

PAYING THEIR DUES ATM HERE HOW THE U.S. NATIONAL DEBT AFFECTS YOU OUR NATIONAL DEBT: TRILLIUN For the first time in U.S. history, the national debt has risen past $17 TRILLION. That number is a bit hard to comprehend and means little to Americans when not applied to their everyday lives. So just how does the national debt affect consumers, and why should the average American care about how much this country owes? IT JUST KEEPS GOING AND GOING AND GOING. THAT'S $17.3 $53,433 TRILLION PER AMERICAN. Current national debt in the U.S. $12.7 trillion Amount added to the national debt in the past decade 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 201l 2012 2013 UNDERSTANDING THE NATIONAL DEBT THE NATIONAL DEBT IS MONEY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OWES TO VARIOUS SOURCES. THE REST OF THE NATIONAL DEBT 2/3 is actually what the U.S. federal government owes itself, as loans for things like National debt owed to the public, businesses and foreign governments that bought investments in the U.S. SOCIAL SECURITY AND OTHER TRUSTS. 70% Current U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio HOW DO WE COMPARE? HERE'S A LOOK AT THE COUNTRIES WITH THE HIGHEST RATIOS: 244.2% ZIMBABWE 219.1% JAPAN 156.9% GREECE 144% SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 132.9% JAMAICA 131.8% ICELAND 126.9% ITALY ERITREA 125.8% { PORTUGAL 123.6% 119.6% LEBANON 117.6% IRELAND 111.% SINGAPORE 110% GRENADA 101.7% SUDAN 99.6% BELGIUM 93.2% PUERTO RICO 90.3% FRANCE %0068 88.7% ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA UNITED KINGDOM %8 86.2% EGYPT CABO VERDE 85.8% CYPRUS 85.6% BARBADOS 85.4% CANADA 84.6% BELIZE 84.1% SPAIN 81% GERMANY 79.3% HUNGARY 79.1% SRI LANKA 77% SAINT LUCIA 75.7% AUSTRIA 75.5% JORDAN 75.5% SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE MALTA 71.3% 71.2% MOROCCO UNITED STATES 70% 66.9% ISRAEL 50.3% BURUNDI WHAT CONSUMERS WILL SEE HERE IS HOW THE NATIONAL DEBT IS AFFECTING AMERICANS TODAY. RISING INTEREST WEAK JOB MARKETS RATES NOT HIRING NOT HIRING NOT HIRING TIER CARDHOLDER The higher the consumer debt and interest rates on credit cards and loans, the more foreign investments the country receives. This is bad for you, but good for the federal government. High national debt means little economic growth. Unfortunately, this also means fewer jobs are created through government spending on projects like road construction and small business loans. HIGHER TAXES When the government can't make revenue through typical means to pay off the debt, it will turn to raising taxes for consumers and property owners. SOURCES: http://www.usdebtclock.org http://www.whitehouse.gov • http://rt.com/usa • http://www.tradingeconomics.com• http://www.marketwatch.com • http://useconomy.about.com • http://www.justfacts.com • http://money.usnews.com • http://www.usgovernmentspending.com • http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock accounting-degree.org %24 96