Net Interest Spending Will More Than Triple Over the Next Decade

Everyone wants to know more about the budget and here is some key information with a chart from the Heritage Foundation and a video from the Cato Institute.

As the national debt grows, interest payments will consume more and more of the federal budget, even without interest rate increases. Under the President’s budget, the national debt would double and real net interest costs would more than triple over the next decade.

INFLATION-ADJUSTED DOLLARS (2010)

Source: White House Office of Management and Budget and Congressional Budget Office.

In Depth

• Policy Papers for Researchers

  • WEBMEMO ON JANUARY 26, 2011New CBO Budget Baseline Reveals Permanent Trillion-Dollar Deficits
  • BACKGROUNDER ON MARCH 09, 2011Obama’s 2012 Budget Offers More Gimmicks, Not Reform

• Technical Notes

  The charts in this book are based primarily on data available as of March 2011 from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The charts using OMB data display the historical growth of the federal government to 2010 while the charts using CBO data display both historical and projected growth from as early as 1940 to 2084. Projections based on OMB data are taken from the White House Fiscal Year 2012 budget. The charts provide data on an annual basis except… Read More

• Authors

  Emily GoffResearch Assistant
  Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy StudiesKathryn NixPolicy Analyst
  Center for Health Policy StudiesJohn FlemingSenior Data Graphics Editor