Title: National debt of the United States - Wikipedia
Headings: National debt of the United States
National debt of the United States
Contents
History
Valuation and measurement
Public and government accounts
Accounting treatment
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac obligations excluded
Guaranteed obligations excluded
Unfunded obligations excluded
Measuring debt burden
Calculating the annual change in debt
Reduction
Negative real interest rates
Raising reserve requirements and full reserve banking
Debt ceiling
Debt holdings
Foreign holdings
Forecasting
CBO ten-year outlook 2018–2028 (pre-coronavirus)
CBO ten-year outlook 2020-2030 (coronavirus)
CBO long-term outlook
Risks and debates
CBO risk factors
Concerns over Chinese holdings of U.S. debt
Sustainability
Risks to economic growth
Interest and debt service costs
Definition of public debt
Intergenerational equity
Credit default
Impact of Coronavirus and CARES Act of 2020
Coronavirus Spending and 2021 Spending
Appendix
National debt for selected years
(a3) Audited figure was "about $6,213 billion."
(a17) GAO affirmed Bureau of the Fiscal Service's figure as $21,506 billion.
(a18) GAO affirmed Bureau of the Fiscal Service's figure as $22,711 billion.
Interest paid
Foreign holders of U.S. Treasury securities
Statistics
International debt comparisons
Main article: List of countries by public debt
Recent additions to the public debt of the United States
Historical debt ceiling levels
State and local government debt
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links

Content: History of the United States public debt
The amount of U.S. public debt, measured as a percentage of GDP, held by the public since 1900. The United States federal government has continuously had a fluctuating public debt since its formation in 1789, except for about a year during 1835–1836, a period in which the nation, during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, completely paid the national debt. To allow comparisons over the years, public debt is often expressed as a ratio to GDP. The United States public debt as a percentage of GDP reached its highest level during Harry Truman 's first presidential term, during and after World War II. Public debt as a percentage of GDP fell rapidly in the post-World War II period and reached a low in 1974 under Richard Nixon. Debt as a share of GDP has consistently increased since then, except during the presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton . Public debt rose sharply during the 1980s, as Ronald Reagan negotiated with Congress to cut tax rates and increase military spending. It fell during the 1990s because of decreased military spending, increased taxes and the 1990s boom. Public debt rose sharply during George W Bush's presidency and in the wake of the 2007–2008 financial crisis, with resulting significant tax revenue declines and spending increases, such as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In their September 2018 monthly report published on October 5 and based on data from the Treasury Department's "Daily Treasury Statements" (DTS), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) wrote that the federal budget deficit was c.$782 billion for the fiscal year 2018—which runs from October 2017 through September 2018.