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National Debt Clock

As of May 7, 2009, the total U.S. federal debt was $11,256,266,640,050.20, or about $36,995 per capita. Of this amount, debt held by the public was roughly $6.927 trillion In 2007, the public debt was 36.8 percent of GDP,with a total debt of 65.5 percent of GDP

The debt of the United States is ranked as 12th in the world. As of May 2009 the debt was 80.1 percent of GDP based on current GDP. This level of debt has not been seen since 1951, with the nominal value the largest in recorded history.

Public debt is the amount owed by the government to its creditors, whether they are nationals or foreigners. External debt is the debt of all sectors of the economy (public and private), owed to foreigners. In the U.S., foreign ownership of the public debt is a significant part of the nation's external debt.



Japan and China hold about 45% of the foreign-owned debt. This exposes us to potential financial or political risk should foreign banks stop buying Treasury securities or start selling them heavily. This issue was addressed in a recent report by the Bank of International Settlements which stated, "'Foreign investors in U.S. dollar assets have seen big losses measured in dollars, and still bigger ones measured in their own currency. a sudden rush for the exits cannot be ruled out completely."

In 2006, the central banks of Italy, Russia, Sweden, and the United Arab Emirates announced they would reduce their dollar holdings

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