Chart of the Day – US National Debt by the Year
Notes: Almost exactly 6 years to go from $5T to $6T. We’ll ignore the jump from $23T to $24T because of the emergency spending. We assert that the spending would have happened anyway, but omit it in the interests of full disclosure. The jump from $22T to $23T took only 8.5 months. The slope of the debt curve is increasing at nearly the square of the annual increase.
Economists love to talk about ‘escape velocity’ in terms of economic recovery. We’re going to inject that term into the debt discussion. By 2024, the Congressional budget office estimates the national debt will be at $36T – another $12 trillion over top of where we are now. So.. $12T in the next four years. In the previous four years, the growth was around $4.5T.
It doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out if we get to $36T by 2024, there is no going back. In all honesty, that ship has likely already sailed. Our planning needs to move into the next phase now. Where do we go from here? We’ll be addressing that, along with some pointers on general risk management in the weeks that follow.
Just one follow-up question – when was the last time you heard anyone talk about the infamous debt ceiling???? Something to think about during all this time we all have for contemplation.
Sutton/Mehl
**Chart compliments of CNS News**
