Shhh … Don’t tell anybody but, at current prices, Fort Knox holds enough gold to cover less than 3% of the $40 trillion National Debt.
I know that Halloween is still several months away. However, it won’t be long before people will once again be looking for ways to scare the pants off unwitting friends and family members.
One way to do that without having to dress up like a ghost or goblin is by sharing this little piece of news: The US National Debt is on the verge of surpassing the $40 trillion mark. And if that’s not terrifying enough, check out the following witches’ brew of other chilling facts you probably didn’t know about the National Debt:
- Although the official US National Debt figure is $40 trillion. But it would be $73 trillion higher if it included unfunded future obligations for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
- Last month, America’s debt-to-GDP ratio — an indicator of fiscal health — ominously reached 124%. However, if you include those unfunded liabilities, it’s 440%.
- It could be worse: US debt reached 130% of GDP immediately following World War II. Today, America has the dubious honor of having the world’s 11th worst debt-to-GDP ratio. Venezuela (309%), Sudan (272%), and Japan (249%) are the top three.
- The next time you’re playing Trivial Pursuit, remember that the two countries with the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios are Brunei (3.3%) and Afghanistan (4.1%). Yes, that Afghanistan.
- Zimbabwe’s debt-to-GDP ratio topped 200% in 2010. Not coincidentally, an epic case of hyperinflation all but destroyed their economy shortly thereafter.
- It took the US government 191 years – from 1791 until 1982 – to run its debt to $1 trillion. Four years later, Congress had increased it by another trillion.
- Forty-trillion dollars is a hair-raising amount of money. In fact, it’s roughly $120,000 for every living man, woman, and child in the United States.
- If 40-trillion $1 bills were stacked on top of each other, they would stretch all the way to the moon. And back. And then back again.
- If you took one trillion crisp $1 bills to the bank and handed the teller a buck per second, it would take 32,000 years to transfer the money. And you thought pennies were a pain.
- Don’t blame inflation: Between 1946 and 1982, the National Debt remained virtually unchanged on an inflation-adjusted basis. Since then, the National Debt has increased at an ever-accelerating pace.
- The Founding Fathers were no better at managing debt than we are now. In 1791, the National Debt was a mere $75 million. That may seem minuscule, but at the time it represented a debt-to-GDP ratio of 40%.
- Thanks to Andrew Jackson, the National Debt was completely paid off on January 1, 1835. It’s the only time in history a major country has been debt free.
- The idea of balancing government budgets is not new. In 55 BC, Cicero told his fellow citizens that, “The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, and assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt.” Nobody listened.
- The US government is currently borrowing $456 million every hour. Adjusting for inflation, that’s more than it paid for Alaska in 1867.
- He’s not that rich: Last month Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire. If he donated his fortune to the US Treasury, it would cover just 50 day’s worth of federal government expenses.
- China and Japan are the two biggest holders of American debt. Suckers.
- Yes, the US Treasury can always pay its creditors in gold. Unfortunately, the value of its gold reserves are currently “only” $1 trillion… assuming the vaults at Fort Knox, Denver and West Point aren’t empty.
- I know what you’re thinking: Will China and Japan take a personal check? Nope — but the US government will. Just make it payable to the “United States Treasury.” In the memo section, note that it’s a “Gift to the debt held by the public.” Then mail your check to:
Gifts to the United States
US Department of the Treasury
Reporting and Analysis Branch 2
P.O. Box 1328
Parkersburg, WV 26106-1328
Frankly, that would be a supernatural gesture that’s downright spooky.
Photo Credit: Cliff
A lot of people do not know about number 18! That’s so awesome…well, I guess not really.
Hi Len. You’d think with all the clever people who work in our financial institutions around the world that they would be able to control something as simple as a balance sheet. So why are all the countries in raging debt?? Well part of that is our own greed. Unlike our forefathers who were happy to save up for what they wanted, we want everything now. But that is not the real reason. Banks and other financial institutions make more money from debt than from anything else. They rake in more money the deeper the debt. Banks will eventually rule everything if they do not already.
Yep. That succinctly sums it all up, Cemlyn. That greed you speak of may not only eventually kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, it also continues to slowly chip away at the fabric of our society, and our faith in the system.
Wait, you can really write a check to the government for their debt? Unreal.
I also enjoyed the tidbit about Andrew Jackson as I am a history buff.
Our children and grandchildren will be very angry with us when this Ponzi scheme reaches its inevitable end.
It is sad our debt has reached this level. I just hope we deal with it before it gets any larger however unlikely that sounds.
We should make it a crime for anyone holding highest office if they fail to balance a budget. See how long it takes them to get their spending under control 😀
I prefer to stay in the US than living in Afghanistan!
I always thought that we Should pay congressmen and senators 1 million dollars a year if they balance the budget otherwise their normal salary if they dont. It would be so little compared to our debt.
Very interesting read, Len..
The scariest part of all of this is that it is getting so much worse every year. The deeper we dig, the higher a percentage of future budgets will have to be dedicated to interest on the debt, leaving less to pay for obligations like SS & Medicare (which will have their costs increasing regardless)..
Simple math says that we are on our way to major trouble in the not so distant future.
Hey Len! Thanks for putting me into the Halloween spirit.
I know that the Fort Knox gold would still only pay our way for only a few months, but it would be pretty fun to climb around on those mountains of gold bars and take some ‘Hey Look at Me’ pictures.
For those who are interested, if you believe the last official audit, total US reserves are currently 261.499 million troy ounces. More than half of those (approximately 147 million ounces) reside at Fort Knox.
This makes me sick. I can’t believe the statistics are so crazy. I found it particularly interesting to see other countries’ debt levels. I didn’t know Zimbabwe was so inflated.
To be honest, I knew about #18. But I’m more interested in working on MY debt first!
We have a higher debt per capita than Greece does. What does that say about America?
I think your 0.02% figure should be 2%
Yep. Good catch, MB! It has been corrected.
When I was in college way back in the mid 1950, one of my perfessers said about the national debt: “We owe that money to ourselves”.
Even then, if one wanted to get a good grade, one did not cross the faculty, so I only thought to myself; “Goody! I can forgive my share and stop paying taxes.”
That is scary Len, and absolutely interesting fact about Afghanistan. It’s funny in the environmental movement so much can be in a more fiscally responsible way. I really hope true conservatives, fiscally responsible, get involved in saving the earth. Sometiems the easiest way to repair nature is to leave it alone or let true market forces (by taking certain large corporate subsidies away) lead folks to be sustainable choices. I was involved in one advocacy call and the democratic state senator’s answer was to open another bureacratic office??? As someoen who helps run a department, this is not the way to manage an organization – just throwing more money at something. Hopefully California republicans can bring some fiscal discipine to things. I really think we can do both togehter, save the economy, save the earth and not run up the debt. I’ve picked up 300 bags of ocean plastic pollution now and all that exercise helped my health, and didn’t cost me a thing. And some “environmental groups” would have charged unwitting consumers literally $20 “eco-bracelet” for 1 pound of garbage. So really I donated 6000 to the earth. But I don’t think anyone should pay be $6000 for picking up trash. The world really doesn’t make sense right now. Anyway, thanks for continuing to highlight this ridiculous debt.
Thank you, Dr. P … for both your comment and taking the time and effort to clean up our ocean!
I believe Greece was at 113% debt to GDP when they went down for the count. But they can’t print “money” like we can. If only there was a way to predict when this whole charde was about take a hard stop.
Unfortunately there is no near-term, direct consequence to loading up on debt. We’ve racked it up this year to no apparent determent. 26 trillion, heck why not double it again? There will be no action until the currency devalues significantly, inflation takes off noticeably, the cost of debt skyrockets, etc. Only then will the politicians have a reason to do something. It is not real to the voters. Heard a pundit today say “we need to have a hard shutdown to stop COVID, just pay everyone their lost wages.” Ok, another few trillion dollars…
So what, makes no apparent difference. The debt is just to intangible to be real.
States have to balance their budgets, so they have to lay-off workers, cut programs, etc. This generally keeps them in check. No such cause and effect at the federal level.