U.S. Debt on Track to Fuel Economic Crisis

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.

Countries like Greece and Portugal have suffered or are anticipating financial crises as a result of mounting debt. If the U.S. continues federal deficit spending on its current trajectory, it will face similar economic woes.

PROJECTED U.S. PUBLICLY HELD DEBT AS PERCENTAGE OF GDP

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and Congressional Budget Office (Alternative Fiscal Scenario).

In Depth

• Policy Papers for Researchers

  • WEBMEMO ON JULY 27, 2010U.S. Long-Term Debt Situation Is One of the World’s Worst
  • WEBMEMO ON OCTOBER 26, 2010The U.K. Budget Cuts: Lessons for the United States

• 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