Information provided at government websites is either hopelessly, deeply buried or intentionally vague. Lotsa pie charts out there, but none are specific to a country listing a specific amount. I've heard Japan holds our largest amount of national debt, with China coming in second. China? A COMMUNIST country is buying up our national debt? Who, in his right mind would accept/authorize such a thing? If this is true, what is going on in Washington? What American, in his right mind, would even CONSIDER such a thing? Have our politicians all gone INSANE?
136853
You've tapped a very complicated subject my friend - I think all of macro economics is vague and all of the smartest economists don't agree on what is going on... So I don't think it is intentionally vague - any more than the rest of the economic field....  Also China owning US debt began when they became part of the WTO (I believe this may have happened on Bush's watch, but was started by Clinton - i.e. not a republican/democrat thing.) I don't know how easy it will be to find - but seems like to answer your specific question you would want to understand the ownership of US treasury securities.  If you are just curious and want to know about this stuff - China does hold a large portion of our debt and that is because we spend more money than we have and they save more money than they make.  We have trade deficit with China because we want to buy their goods, because they are cheap.  In the past they have been more than happy to lend us the money to do so.  But if we don't watch it, our creditors are going to start saying no.  The opinion of congress right now is that this is China's fault and that they are a currency manipulator who should let their currency appreciate.
587657
When nations of the world refuse to trade in usa dollars.If that ever happens america is in trouble Theres not enough gold in fort knox to pay off the national debt however the usa is owed trillions by other countries The G7 plus russia don't owe the usa much The debt she(america)is owed is mainly by third world countries who cannot repay this debt Once america has to go to  the same currency deals as her partners it'll be a different ball game
229382
B/c it's apart of International Politics. You must understand that there is no such thing as debt. Money is a substance regulated by people who also spend.\n\nI don't lose sleep at night.\n\nHere's a suggestion, let's stop giving other countried money and collect the debt owed to us, oh, and take out China - fincially.
252967
we havent seen a surplus since 1830s. the 'surplus' during clinton was a hoax. he bailed out mexico by having greenspan print up $3.8 billion bounced it off the roof of the treasury into chase manhatten. then bush bought us all off with it at the beginning of his 1st term. right ow the debt is $8,363,454,225,996.54 The estimated population of the United States is 298,676,548 so each citizen's share of this debt is $28,001.71. The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $1.95 billion per day since September 30, 2005! Concerned? Then tell Congress and the White House! http://www.eff.org/congress/
203103
The Debt of the US\nhttp://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/
483908
Its about time someone started thinking along these lines. See my question in the government section also." Has capitalism failed the British public?" It has failed the Americans but I'm not so sure most of them are smart enough to know this. Trillions and Trillions of debt to live like Brittany Spears and the others. But when the book is looked at, you have sold your soul to a faceless fat cat who has hidden accounts off shore where he does not even pay taxes. They buy the politicians to oil the system. Bravo! I'm with you on this one.
570176
NOPE!  The national debt is the next biggest thing.  $$$
110928
I have to disagree with the guy above, about the 3 Trillion it is 8 Trillion and President Clinton balanced the budget in the late 90's with reserves. This debt has come from this administration solely, and they don't care. Why would a millionaire care about $2.50- $5.00 at the pump when they are making more money off of the stock options? The answer is #C and #D and the lenders are part of the problem for America they are the lobbyists that elected this administration.
336798
No, it really is because G.W. Bush, seen from anywhere outside the USA, is an obvious idiot. He has screwed up the national debt beyond belief and attacked countries without cause.
460541
Because like every other country in the world, no matter how much abuse they give us (including North Korea) they all want our money, technology, and the ability to travel here, maybe even stay. The USA is the awful bully according to them, but where do they always run to for help? They have a disaster who do they expect the most aid from? I'm one of those people who think we should cut off the foreign aid until we have our own house in order, infrastructure, schools, taxes, healthcare, social security, etc. and when that is taken care of then we can choose to be generous.
118493
Basically, when the amount of money we're spending on things like social services and wars is more than the amount the government is getting from taxes, they need more money to pay the people providing the services.  So they borrow money from private business and other nations (we also lend money to other nations) to pay the difference.  They also borrow money from private individuals in the form of government bonds (this is when you buy basically a piece of paper, and in a fix number of years they'll pay you back with a fixed amount of interest).  When they borrow money from someone, they will then owe them money (i.e. they will have a debt).  Since the debt belongs to the government, which represents the nation as a whole, it's called the National Debt.\n\nThe National Debt is currently at a record high.  At the end of Clinton's presidency (i.e. 2000), we had a record surplus (when the government has money left over - sort of like a negative debt).  Many economists argue that a small national debt is actually good because it keeps businesses tied to the government and the government acountible to the public (I happen to think they're right about this), but a large debt generally means that we have become dependent upon foreign loans, and it puts our government programs in danger (because they may not be able to afford to keep them going).
157348
America's economy is a house of cards waiting to fall. if HALF the foreign investers cashed in their Treasury notes, the country would  go belly up. We are the largest debtor nation in the world, and lately foreigners have begun curtailing their buying of more Treasury notes as a result.\nI'll believe this current administration about their claims of a robust economy the day AFTER weapons of mass destruction are found in Iraq! (in Saddam's pocket, perhaps?)
490124
I read "Today our annual interest payment of more than $200 billion eats up every dollar of income tax paid by everyone living west of the Missisippi River."\n\nI've also read that it's not a problem, that a debt for a nation is different from an individual debt. I don't get why it's not a problem. Sure seems like a problem to me. I've also read that it's a small percentage of the GNP so not to worry. But I worry.
199702
The national debt is actually something that is undermining our national security by handing over a very large portion of our economy to foreign powers.\n\nIn international finance, everything is balanced through a very complicated system including value of exported and imported goods, value of currency, value of precious metal reserves (gold & silver), and other valued goods. When the US spends more than it makes as a nation, there are several things that could happend: 1. Other countries step in and "loan" money to the US through the purchase of Treasury Bills (T-Bills); 2. The US dollar is devalued (i.e. goes down compared to other currencies).\n\nRight now, foreign nations are purchasing T-Bills in order to loan the US the money that it spends. Basically, the T-Bill is a note that promises the purchaser that the US Government will pay back the money owed.\n\nThe problem is, when other countries have large amounts of these T-Bills, they effectivly control the US economy by the threat of dumping the t-bills onto the international market. For instance, if China decided that it really didn't want the US to supply arms to Taiwan, it could take all of its T-bills and dump them in the international market. Overnight, the US Dollar would plummet, thus raising the cost of imported goods in the US. The result is that $5 t-shirt made overseas now costs $10. Inflation would be rampant, businesses would shut down, unemployment would rocket up, and the US economy would be in tatters in a matter of weeks.
224215
Ok so 1. Our debt is actually mostly to ourselves not other countries although some foreign investors hold U.S. government bonds and such.\n\n2. Bill Clinton did NOT erase the national debt. That is an impossible task for 1 President to do considering the debt is now something like 8 trillion dollars...I'm not sure of teh exact number. What Clinton did was erase the national deficit for a couple of years. A deficit is the debt for 1 year...the national debt is the accumulation of that. \n\nNow that that's clear...yes more money should be going to pay the national debt. But really, first, we need a balanced budget so that we can stop increasing the debt. And then whatever surplus there is should go towards paying off the national debt instead of tax cuts. not that I'm against tax cuts or anything.
319801
This false inflation isn't a boom, it's just inflated figures. Our economy is at the brink of crash with Bush's over printing of money. The dollar is at it's lowest point ever. Clinton balanced the budget and lowered the interest rates which caused the Country to recover. The same thing will have to go on again in order to level out the Stock Market. When the gold standard rises it's time to look for a crash, it's up $200.00 dollars on the ounce now. China is holding all of the Bush Administrations cards too, since they have borrowed trillions in debt to Communist China. America has with the Republicans bet on Communists with the Stock Market, and that's a foolish gamble.
336539
I dont know. I really dont know. How would you find out? Government statistics? Not a good vote-getter! Even if you go back to previous governments , its still pretty hard to judge how scrupulous they were.They , of course , 'justify' the expense - 'defending freedom' , a 'cost-effective' health service,an aging population affecting pensions ( gosh , an aging population , that must have come as a surprise!). Bit of a rant here , but I feel that you understand!