The short answer is yes—and quite a lot. The US government has accumulated over 35 trillion dollars. To put that into perspective, 1 trillion dollar bills would stretch almost from the earth to the sun. Another way to think of 1 trillion is to imagine a jet flying at the speed of sound, dispensing a roll of dollar bills behind it. It would take that jet 14 years to reach 1 trillion. Finally, the US economy produces about 29 trillion dollars per year—that is our entire economy, not our government! (As an aside, governments literally do not produce anything. Governments only consume what’s produced by individuals and businesses.)
The largest budget category is Social Security at 21%. It is followed by four categories each at 13%. One of those four is interest on the national debt. Think of that—tied for the second largest expenditure of the federal government is interest. The larger problem is that it will only increase unless we begin to rein it in.
Finally, the largest issue with our debt is that it is being serviced by printed/ digitally created currency. The currency creation is of the utmost importance because the ability to create currency out of thin air gives our Federal Government virtually unlimited power. The ability to create currency is quite literally the single greatest threat to our individual freedoms.
What thoughts do you have?
