U.S. Begins 2010 Fiscal Year $11,776,112,848,656.17 In Debt
And it's gone up approximately $25 billion in the first 5 days of this month, since the nation's fiscal year (2010) began officially on October 1.
By the time the final numbers are in for the fiscal year just ended, the federal deficit will have hit an all-time high in the range of $1.580-trillion. That's 11.2 percent of the total economy (GDP). The previous year's deficit was – by today's standards – nearly inconsequential at $459-billion. That was only 3.2 percent of GDP.
Over the course of FY'09, the National Debt soared as well from $10.124-trillion on October 1, 2008 to $11,776,112,848,656.17 as of Tuesday, the latest figure from the Bureau of Public Debt. That's an increase of $1.652-trillion – the single largest increase ever in a fiscal year.
The projections for the new fiscal year offer only slight hope of improvements. The mid-session review released by the Office of Management and Budget at the end of August forecasts a deficit for FY'10 just over $1.5-tillion, amounting to 10.4 percent of the total economy. And the aptly-named Gross National Debt is projected to skyrocket in excess of $14-trillion.
The only break taxpayers get is that interest paid on the National Debt is not as much as it otherwise might be because interest rates are so low. Net interest paid on the Debt will amount this year to just under $200-billion. That's about 1.4 percent - a bargain considering the massive amount of the principal.
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DB here. When interest rates finally begin their inevitable climb, the decision highlighted at the bottom, to borrow massively short-term, will be neither smart nor painless. Julian Robertson issued the warning just last week.
See also:
Paul Krugman: Huckster, Liar & Debt Apologist
National Debt Archive (over 20 stories we've written on the debt & deficit)
Obama Raises 10-Year Deficit Forecast To $9 Trillion ($2 T Upward Revision)
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Oct 5, 2009 at 7:32 PM
Reader Comments (14)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ajnBClVe3IrM
America Digs Deeper Into Debt
http://www.deltaga.com/market-commentaries/america-digs-deeper-into-debt.html
http://www.urbandigs.com/total-credit-debt-percentage-gdp.jpg
Uncle Sam Could Risk AAA Status As Early As 2012
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125251031131395923.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/6146859/Does-the-world-have-the-courage-to-deal-with-its-debts.html
Hummel: The US Will Default On Its Debt
http://www.businessinsider.com/hummel-the-us-will-default-on-its-debt-2009-8
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/business/economy/24debt.html?_r=1&ref=patrick.net
Warren Buffett on the crippling national debt
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/opinion/19buffett.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=opinion
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9B0DEKG0.htm
National Debt Is Growing Like Green Shoots Fertilized By Pit Bulls With Intestinal Issues ( Debt Milestone: $11.5 Trillion Yesterday)
http://dailybail.com/home/national-debt-is-growing-like-green-shoots-fertilized-by-pit.html
A lot more master inflicted hardship, and they will propose their "solution".
They must prepare the herds first.
While we're getting rid of clutter, can't we send Paul Krugman to the moon, too? He could run the moon colony.