We last heard from the U.S. Department of the Treasury that the U.S. government was running a monthly deficit of $175 billion. When new figures are released Thursday, people expect the rate will be even higher. When the government starts writing those tax rebate checks in May, it will go higher still.
A Wall Street Journal article points out that we should not get caught up in the dollar figure but instead compare it to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). What percentage of GDP is our debt? The article also explains what has to happen to lower the deficit.
The Treasury Department answers the question: What is national debt?
The Bureau of the Public Debt publishes
daily public debt totals, as well as a
monthly statement of the public debt and a list of
related FAQs. You can actually
find out the debt on any given date from January 1993 to the present day.
In addition, the Government Accountability Office has produced a document titled, "Federal Debt: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions -- An Update." [PDF]
You can find additional statistics on the public debt in
various Office of Management and Budget documents and in the
"Economic Report of the President," an annual report written by the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors.
The Congressional Budget Office's Web site is also a good resource. Daily, monthly and quarterly updates on the public debt can be found on the
Financial Management Service Web site.
The National Debt Awareness Center lists how your tax dollars are spent.
National Public Radio ran a piece Wednesday about why a big federal deficit might not be something to worry about yet.
Great resources, Al. I tend to look to the numbers...
