The figures used in most articles about the U.S. Federal Debt are taken from the official government web site. It is possible to create a good analysis with them, but other figures also need to be taken into account to really get the true picture (some spending, income and debt figures are not shown in the official budget).
This USA Today article by Dennis Cauchon is a good example of that.
USA Today article by Dennis Cauchon, Rules ‘hiding’ trillions in debt (May 29, 2007).
This article gives a much more realistic view of our debt.
The main factor is “unfunded promises” for things such as Social Security and Medicare.
As stated in the article, these are debts that the government doesn’t want to talk about.
Read carefully the part regarding the government’s argument that these are not true liabilities because government can cancel or cut them.
Let’s keep in mind that Social Security is not a government giveaway. This is money that has been paid by future recipients over generations. The money is theirs and is supposed to be held in a trust fund. Social Security funding up to now has always showed a surplus which, if kept in the trust fund, would have ensured Social Security payments for many generations to come. So when you’re told that Social Security will soon be in trouble, it’s not because of the baby boomer generation going into retirement or any of the other reasons advanced by the proponents of Social Security privatization. It’s only because the trust fund has been mismanaged and pilfered.
http://www.usatoday.com/educate/college/polisci/articles/20070603.htm
Another article by Dennis Cauchon in USA Today, written the day before the above article:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-28-federal-budget_N.htm
A web site specialized in the Federal Budget (this link is also included in the Federal Budget section).
It uses figure from the U.S. Treasury
http://www.federalbudget.com/
The Concord Coalition figures:
Relevant numbers on the public debt in July of 2006.
This site relies mainly on government site figure releases.
This has changed drastically in one year. What’s interesting is that official figures always refer to the public debt, which doesn’t reflect the total debt. The government is actually the main owner of the debt and when this is taken into consideration, we get a very different picture of the debt. Most analysts repeat over and over that we owe most of our debt to foreign entities. This is an error. Most of our debt is owed by our own government, in the form of IOUs. The problem is that this money is gone.
http://www.concordcoalition.org/issues/feddebt/debt-facts.html
MNSBC article, “Just Who Owns the National Debt”:
Uses only the $8.5T figure. Shows that the government owns 52% of the debt.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17424874/
Financial Management Services (a government entity) figures on full breakdown: http://www.fms.treas.gov/bulletin/b2006-4ofs.doc
(Page is right now missing)
Treasury department own figures. Shows the debt owned by the public, the intragovernmental holdings, and the total public debt.
These are government figures and do not show the unfunded debt!
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np
Wikipedia, the United States Public Debt.
A good overview of the public debt, but again, it only relies on government figures that do not include unfunded promises.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt
United states National Debt, by Steve McGourty.
http://www.cedarcomm.com/~stevelm1/usdebt.htm
National Center for Policy Analysis 5-29-07, Taxpayers on the Hook for $59 Trillion:
Based on the USA Today article by Dennis Cauchon.
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=14596
MarkTAW figures and graphs on The National Budget, Debt and Deficit:
This is a 2004 information page, obviously made before the 2004 presidential elections for partisan purpose. It has some interesting graphs.
http://www.marktaw.com/culture_and_media/TheNationalDebt.html
zfacts National Debt History:
http://zfacts.com/p/318.html
Michael Hodges Grandfather Economic Report:
http://www.mwhodges.home.att.net/
An old set of charts (2003) in Centrist.org. regarding the impact of interest payment on the national debt.
The estimates for the most recent years probably need to be reviewed, but it gives a good idea of which elements are important to analyze a budget.
http://www.centrists.org/pages/2003/12/1_guest_budget.html
The Market Oracle.
For the purpose of selling gold, gives a rather good analysis of the state of the U.S. finances:
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=327
The full GAO (General accounting office) report, source of the above article:
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=327
The Bureau of Public Debt:
Frequently asked questions about the public debt, answered by the U.S. Department of Treasury:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/resources/faq/faq_publicdebt.htm
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