Who does The United States owe money To
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The United States currently has a total outstanding public debt load of nearly $12 trillion dollars ($11,827,966,342,208.43 to be exact).
how much debt doesUnited States really have
In the past century, this debt has ballooned, currently just over twelve trillion dollars. There are approximately 300 million American citizens, which means that the total debt for every man, woman, and child in America is over $30,000.
During WWII debt passed the $260 billion dollar mark, then stayed relatively stable with inflation until the 1980's. However, during the 80's the debt grew sharply.
The Debt Under President George W. Bush
Within three months of his presidency, Bush signed one of the largest tax breaks in history, close to 1 trillion dollars over eight years.
Then, September 11, 2001 changed the face of Bush's presidency forever. The 9/11 terrorist attacks would define a generation, and in turn, indebt the next generation of Americans.
George Bush launched the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars, while at the same time, imposing more and more tax breaks on Americans. This was an unprecedented act: no president had ever launched a war (nevermind two wars) while at the same time reducing taxes. Wars are very expensive.
So was the new medicare bill passed by Bush. In 2002, the "Pay As You Go" bill that hampered Clinton's spending as president, and in turn developed some sort of fiscal responsibility back into the White House, expired. Bush Jr. was free to spend however he wanted, and used that to his advantage by passing a new medicare in 2003 that required government to subsidize healthcare spending for seniors.
How Much of the American Treasury is Foreign Owned?
As of January, 2009 the five largest stake holders in the American treasury, or, the five largest nations the the USA is in debt it, are:
- People's Republic of China ($739.6 billion)
- Japan ($634.8 billion)
- Oil Exporters (OPEC) ($186.3 billion)
- Caribbean Banking Centers ($176.6 billion)
- Brazil ($133.5 billion)
Foreign Governments Own Large Portion of Total US National Debt
As of September 17th, the US government had $7.52 trillion dollars in public debt, and an additional $4.3 trillion dollars in intragovernmental holdings.
Intragovernmental holdings represents money that the federal government has borrowed from various agencies, such as Social Security.
For instance, in the case of Social Security, the federal government has borrowed over $2 trillion dollars from the program in the form of special series, non-marketable US bonds. If the Social Security program takes in more money than it pays out, then the federal government will borrow the difference.
The government also borrows money from other programs, but Social Security is its favorite source of funding.
Countries such as China, Japan, Brazil and the United Kingdom all own at least $100 billion dollars of US debt. China currently owns the most, having nearly $750 billion dollars worth of US debt to its name as of January 2009.
