By GREGORY SIRICO
This past week, America has broken yet another record, except this time it was a record no one wanted to break. The U.S. national debt has official surpassed $22.1 trillion for the first time.
To date, this is the highest the U.S. national debt has ever been in history and observers point to a few major causes of this substantial increase.
“The average joe like myself doesn’t really focus on the national debt from day to day. It’s mind boggling that a first world country and global super power such as America is in such a crisis,” said Rodrigo Cardenas, former intern for Senator Pou of the 35th District of New Jersey.
The average joe should take notice because the national debt affects them more than they know. A higher national debt means lower incomes for workers, blue collar and white collar alike.
As it stands right now, the U.S. national debt can be broken down into two categories: intra-government debt and public debt. But what does that mean exactly?
Intra-Government Debt
Intra-government debt includes any money that the U.S. Treasury owes to other government services/agencies, such as Department of Education, Energy, and many others. In total, the U.S. intra-government debt only accounts for $5.8 trillion of the sizable $22.1 trillion debt.
The largest portion of that debt is owed to Social Security. Social Security, which is largely funded by a payroll tax, uses their excess revenue to purchase Treasury bonds and securities. Due to this, Social Security is owed roughly $3 trillion by the Treasury.
Public Debt
Public debt on the other hand includes any money that the U.S. Treasury owes to third parties, which includes anyone outside of the United States. Since anyone can purchase public debt, namely companies, investment firms, and foreign governments, those aforementioned third parties took advantage of the opportunity.
When a Treasury bond or security is bought by a third party, they’re investing in public debt. Due to this, the U.S. Treasury owes foreign parties roughly $16.1 trillion in publicly issued bonds.
Who’s to Blame?
Something to keep in mind is that the U.S. national debt wasn’t the fault of just one president. Spending habits aside, the true culprit for why the U.S. national debt is so high at the moment is the crippling economic system we have fallen into, according to Politics Beta, a political statistics collector.
To go along with that, President Trump’s $1.5 billion tax cut back in 2017 and increased spending on military programs really sent the national debt into a downward spiral. Since Trump has assumed office the national debt has increased by $2 trillion, according to recent findings.
During President Obama’s administration, he roughly racked up $19.9 trillion in debt. Obama’s administration accumulated “nearly as much debt in eight years than in the entire 232-year history of the country before he took office,” said Jeff Cox, CNBC journalist.
The U.S. national debt reaching this record high is a sad reality of our current economic system. The only question is when will our country’s leaders stop running up the tab?
This story has a brief local angle as it contains an interview from a New Jersey native. It also gives insight into something rarely acknowledged by the public: the difference between public and intra-governmental debt. The headline is fine, but it isn’t optimized. Then again, I can’t see too many ways how such a topic could have an optimized enough headline for it to be too worthwhile. It could be better, however.