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How Much Debt Does the U.S. Government Owe?

Author

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  • Rebecca Friedman
  • Mark L. J. Wright

Abstract

The U.S. government is often referred to as the world?s biggest debtor. But how much debt does it owe? A visit to the website of the U.S. Department of the Treasury yields a bewildering array of different measures of U.S. federal government debt. Although the gross debt of the U.S. federal government is approaching $18 trillion, the debt that is subject to the debt limit is a few billion dollars smaller, while debt in the hands of the public is less than $13 trillion.

Suggested Citation

  • Rebecca Friedman & Mark L. J. Wright, 2016. "How Much Debt Does the U.S. Government Owe?," Chicago Fed Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedhle:00041
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    Cited by:

    1. -, 2017. "Challenges to the autonomy and interdependent rights of older persons," Libros y Documentos Institucionales, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 41643 edited by Eclac.
    2. Chang, Zheng & Phang, Sock-Yong, 2017. "Urban rail transit PPPs: Lessons from East Asian cities," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 106-122.

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    Keywords

    Debt; government debt;

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