The national debt of the federal government of the USA is now about $36.506312 trillion. There are currently about 341.374 million Americans. This means that each living American has a debt of $106,939.
My wife and I, plus our 3 daughters, plus our 3 granddaughters combined owe $855,512. I doubt that my wife and I will live long enough to pay down our share of that sum, so whatever is left will devolve to our daughters and granddaughters.
The federal debt will likely continue to grow, despite the heroic efforts of DOGE. Congress has not shown much appetite for reducing spending to the level of its current revenues in several decades. I will be watching for any signs of increased responsibility on Congress's part.
See the historical plot of the Federal debt as a percentage of the USA GDP below:
As of the year 2024, our national debt as a percentage of GDP is about equal to that of 1946 at the end of WWII. This is serious debt without the justification that the nation had with WWII. After WWII, the population growth rate of the USA was high for several decades, which made it easier to grow the economy and hence the GDP. The population growth rate is much lower now. Congress will have to work harder to restrain spending increases in the near future than it did then if the national debt is to fall as a fraction of GDP.
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