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Good day, Adam Ali.
Most critics of the debt cite the fact that at $19 trillion, the national debt represents about 102% of the U.S. gross domestic product, the sum total of all the economic activity in this country each year. Sounds scary. But the health of a family's finances aren't measured this way.
Last year, Washington's total interest payments to service the national debt was just under $225 billion. At the same time, the federal government pulled in nearly $3.2 trillion in total revenues last year. So the federal government's debt obligations represented just 7% of its income last year, down from 17% in 1995.
Most critics of the debt cite the fact that at $19 trillion, the national debt represents about 102% of the U.S. gross domestic product, the sum total of all the economic activity in this country each year. Sounds scary. But the health of a family's finances aren't measured this way.
Last year, Washington's total interest payments to service the national debt was just under $225 billion. At the same time, the federal government pulled in nearly $3.2 trillion in total revenues last year. So the federal government's debt obligations represented just 7% of its income last year, down from 17% in 1995.