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Federal Debt: A Primer

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  • Congressional Budget Office

Abstract

Federal debt held by the public at the end of 2019 was $16.8 trillion—or 79 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)—an amount far greater than the average debt for the past 50 years. CBO projects that if current laws generally remained unchanged, that debt would increase to $31.4 trillion, or 98 percent of GDP, by 2030. This report explains how federal borrowing is structured and measured, who owns it, how it has evolved over time, how much it is projected to grow, and what its budgetary and economic consequences are.

Suggested Citation

  • Congressional Budget Office, 2020. "Federal Debt: A Primer," Reports 56165, Congressional Budget Office.
    • Handle: RePEc:cbo:report:56165
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    File URL: https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-03/56165-CBO-debt-primer.pdf
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Francesco Bianchi & Renato Faccini & Leonardo Melosi, 2020. "Monetary and Fiscal Policies in Times of Large Debt: Unity is Strength," Working Paper Series WP 2020-13, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • H60 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - General
    • H62 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Deficit; Surplus
    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt
    • H68 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Forecasts of Budgets, Deficits, and Debt
    • N42 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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