The U.S. national debt has grown at an accelerated pace since President Joe Biden signed a bill that suspended the U.S. government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling in June 2023. It is now estimated to be around $100,000 per United States citizen, for $33.56 trillion total.
This “$100,000 per citizen” mark cross was reported by Gurgavin Chandhoke, CEO of uINVST, on October 18, on X (formerly Twitter). Gurgavin said his report considers all United States citizens, including children.
However, it is important to note that data retrieved by Finbold from the U.S. Debt Clock at the time of publication, shows a total debt of $99,966 per citizen. This represents an increase superior to $1,000 debt per citizen since Finbold’s last report on September 28, two weeks ago.
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Interestingly, the estimated debt per taxpayer is close to $260,000, which means each taxpayer would need to pay around 10 BTC to get even with the US national debt.
Debt-to-GDP ratio
Moreover, the debt-to-GDP ratio already surpasses 124%. This ratio is significantly high in comparison to historical data from 1960 (52.3%), 1980 (34.69%), 2000 (55.87%), and other countries’ national debts.
Particularly China, with an estimated 83%, or the United Kingdom with around 100.5% debt-to-GDP ratios.
What is the US National Debt?
When investors buy US treasury bonds, they are actually lending money to the United States government to finance their governance. It is an alternative method of funding administrative expenses, besides tax payments.
However, different from taxes, this is a voluntary method, which rewards these lenders with an interest rate, according to the Federal Reserve interest rate decisions.
“The national debt of the United States is the total national debt owed by the federal government of the United States to Treasury security holders. The national debt at any point in time is the face value of the then-outstanding Treasury securities that have been issued by the Treasury and other federal agencies.”
— Wikipedia, on “National debt of the United States”
There is controversy among finance experts about the real ability of the United States Treasury to honor these payments. Arguing that if all investors redeemed their payments, the United States would probably default on this debt.
On that, JPMorgan CEO recently warned that we’re living in ‘the most dangerous times’.
