Components of the Debt

This week, Mercatus Center Senior Research Fellow Veronique de Rugy examines the composition of the debt and the significance of each of its components. Our gross federal debt amounts to a total of $11.9 trillion (shown by the green bar). This is comprised of the debt held by the public ($7.5 billion represented by the blue bar) plus the debt held by intra-governmental accounts ($4.3 billion represented by the yellow bar). Together, this gross federal debt is estimated to represent 94.3% of GDP by the end of FY 2010.  This debt is projected to grow into the future, and interest payments on the debt are projected to grow with it. 

This chart will be featured in an upcoming edition of The American.

Click here to download data.