U.S. National Debt Hits $35 Trillion

The United States national debt surpassed $35 trillion last Friday, the Treasury Department reported. That is equal to $104,000 per American.

At a debt-to-gross domestic product ratio of 124 percent, America adds $1 trillion to its debt about every 100 days.

• On Oct. 23, 1981, America’s debt reached $1 trillion.
• Last September, the debt hit a record $33 trillion.
• In January, it hit $34 trillion.

Interest: America pays over $2 billion in interest on its debt every day, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. With interest rates hovering around 5 percent, next year the U.S. could pay $1.5 trillion in interest alone.

The Peterson Institute estimates that if every U.S. household paid $1,000 a month, the national debt could be paid off in 22 years.

Historically, our largest deficits were caused by increased spending around national emergencies like major wars or the Great Depression. Today, our deficits are caused mainly by predictable structural factors: our aging baby-boom generation, rising health-care costs, and a tax system that does not bring in enough money to pay for what the government has promised its citizens.
—Peterson Institute for International Economics

Prophesied: The U.S. was once the wealthiest nation in the world. Now it faces an unprecedented financial crisis. The Bible prophesied this would happen.

To learn more, request a free copy of The United States and Britain in Prophecy.