Us Debt Increase By President For Every Fiscal Year Since 1914
The U.S. Treasury Department has historical tables that report the annual U.S. debt for each fiscal year since 1790. We’ve complied data from that source to create the figures used below.
Donald Trump:As of the end of FY 2020, the debt was $26.9 trillion. Trump added $6.7 trillion to the debt since Obama’s last budget, a 33.1% increase due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Congressional Budget Office predicted that the pandemic would raise the FY 2020 deficit by $2.2 trillion and the FY 2021 deficit by $0.6 trillion.
In his FY 2021 budget, Trump’s budget includes a $966 billion deficit.
- FY 2020 – $4.226 trillion
- FY 2018 – $1.272 trillion
Barack Obama: Added $8.588 trillion, a 73.6% increase from the $11.657 trillion debt at the end of Bushs last budget in 2009.
- FY 2017 – $671 billion
- FY 1935 – $1.6 billion
- FY 1934 – $4.5 billion
Herbert Hoover: Added $5.6 billion, a 33% increase from the $17 billion debt at the end of Coolidge’s last budget.
- FY 1933 – $3 billion
- FY 1931 – $616 million
- FY 1930 – $746 million surplus
Calvin Coolidge: Subtracted $5.2 billion from the debt, a roughly 24% decrease from the $22 billion debt at the end of Harding’s last budget.
- FY 1929 – $673 billion surplus
- FY 1928 – $907 million surplus
- FY 1927 – $1.1 billion surplus
- FY 1926 – $873 million surplus
- FY 1925 – $734 million surplus
- FY 1924 – $1 billion surplus
- FY 1923 – $614 million surplus
- FY 1922 – $1 billion surplus
What Is The Debt Ceiling
The debt ceiling is the legal limit set by Congress on how much the Treasury Department can borrow, including to pay debts the United States already owes. Since it was established during World War I, the debt ceiling has been raised dozens of times. In recent years, this once routine act has become a game of political brinkmanship that has brought the United States near default on several occasions, CFRs Roger W. Ferguson Jr. writes. Ferguson and other experts argue that the debt ceiling should be scrapped entirely. The only other advanced economy to have one is Denmark, and it has never come close to reaching its ceiling.
Under Trump’s Watch National Debt Tops $21 Trillion For First Time Ever
About a year ago, President Trump pledged to eliminate the national debt “over a period of eight years.” But for the first time in history, the national debt surpassed $21 trillion this week, according to the U.S. Treasury.
The landmark comes shortly after Congress passed, and Mr. Trump signed, a suspension on the federal debt limit last month, allowing the government to borrow an unlimited amount of money until March 1, 2019.
When Mr. Trump took office on Jan. 20, 2017, the national debt was $19.9 trillion, according to U.S. Treasury data. Since then, the GOP-led Congress has passed a $1.5 trillion tax cut bill and a two-year spending deal which, together, are expected to drive the deficit and debt further upward. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates annual deficits could top $2.1 trillion per year in the next decade, which would send the national debt soaring even higher.
Republicans railed against the national debt level under the Obama administration, when it jumped from $10.6 trillion to $19.9 trillion, nearly doubling, but few have been as outspoken about the situation with Republicans controlling Capitol Hill and the White House. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, held up the spending bill last month on the Senate floor, blistering Republicans for doing exactly what they had criticized the Obama administration for doing.
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What President Trump Inherits
Candidate Donald Trump won the election claiming our country is stagnant. But President Trump actually inherits an economy experiencing steady if unspectacular growth in output, jobs and incomes.
The new president also inherits a mountain of national debt, large and growing federal deficits, 43 million Americans still mired in poverty and a rising murder rate.
These are some of the numbers by which the future successes or failures of the new presidency will be measured.
How Does Us Debt Compare To That Of Other Countries
The United States debt-to-GDP ratio is among the highest in the developed world. Among other major industrialized countries, the United States is behind only Japan.
The pandemic has sharply increased borrowing around the world, according to the International Monetary Fund. Among advanced economies, debt as a percentage of GDP has increased from around 75 percent to nearly 95 percent, driven by double-digit increases in the debt of the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the United Kingdom .
The United States has long been the worlds largest economy, with no record of defaulting on its debt. Moreover, since the 1940s it has been the worlds reserve-currency country. As a result, the U.S. dollar is considered the most desirable currency in the world.
High demand for the dollar has helped the United States finance its debt, as many investors put a premium on holding low-risk, dollar-denominated assets such as U.S. Treasury bills, notes, and bonds. Steady demand from foreign creditorslargely central banks adding to their dollar reserves, rather than market investorsis one factor that has helped the United States to borrow money at relatively low interest rates. This puts the United States in a more secure position for a fiscal fight against COVID-19 compared to other countries.
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Series: A Closer Look
Examining the News
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This story was co-published with The Washington Post.
One of President Donald Trumps lesser known but profoundly damaging legacies will be the explosive rise in the national debt that occurred on his watch. The financial burden that hes inflicted on our government will wreak havoc for decades, saddling our kids and grandkids with debt.
The national debt has risen by almost $7.8 trillion during Trumps time in office. Thats nearly twice as much as what Americans owe on student loans, car loans, credit cards and every other type of debt other than mortgages, combined, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It amounts to about $23,500 in new federal debt for every person in the country.
How The National Debt Affects You
The national debt doesn’t affect you directly until it reaches the tipping point. Once the debt-to-GDP ratio exceeds 77% for an extended period of time, it slows economic growth. Every percentage point of debt above this level costs the country 0.017 percentage points in economic growth, according to a World Bank analysis.
The first sign of trouble is when interest rates start to rise significantly. Investors need a higher return to offset the greater perceived risk. They start to doubt that the debt can be paid off.
The second sign is that the U.S. dollar loses value. You will notice that as inflation rises, imported goods will cost more. Gas and grocery prices will rise. Travel to other countries will also become much more expensive.
As interest rates and inflation rise, the cost of providing benefits and paying the interest on the debt will skyrocket. That leaves less money for other services. At that point, the government will be forced to cut services or raise taxes. That will further slow economic growth. At that point, continued deficit spending will no longer work.
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Us National Debt Hits Record $22 Trillion
The Treasury Department data comes as tax revenue has fallen and federal spending continues to rise.hide caption
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The Treasury Department data comes as tax revenue has fallen and federal spending continues to rise.
The U.S. government’s public debt is now more than $22 trillion the highest it has ever been. The Treasury Department data comes as tax revenue has fallen and federal spending continues to rise. The new debt level reflects a rise of more than $2 trillion from the day President Trump took office in 2017.
Despite being in the second-longest economic expansion since the postWorld War II boom, the U.S. is projected to rack up annual deficits and incur national debt at rates not seen since the 1940s, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Over the next 10 years, annual federal deficits when Congress spends more than it takes in through tax revenues are expected to average $1.2 trillion, which would be 4.4 percent of gross domestic product. That’s far higher than the 2.9 percent of GDP that has been the average for the past 50 years.
“Other than the period immediately after World War II, the only other time the average deficit has been so large over so many years was after the 20072009 recession,” the CBO said last month.
Annual deficits and the national debt rose to new heights under the Obama administration, and the trend has continued under President Trump.
Hang On It Was National Debt Since Trump Took Office Day Already This Year
Yes, this is strangely enough entirely possible. The date shown for National Debt Since Trump Took Office Day can change, if for instance several hundred people tweeted about Debt Since Trump Took Office Day in early April, then in May a few thousand people tweeted about Debt Since Trump Took Office day, then the date shown for National Debt Since Trump Took Office Day, could come up twice 😀
We have also detected mentions of Debt Since Trump Took Office day on
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What Are The Policy Options For Dealing With The Debt
Politicians and policy experts have put forward countless plans over the years to balance the federal budget and reduce the debt. Most include a combination of deep spending cuts and tax increases to bend the debt curve.
Cut spending. Most comprehensive proposals to rein in the debt include major spending cuts, especially for growing entitlement programs, which are the main drivers of future spending increases. For instance, the 2010 Simpson-Bowles plan, a major bipartisan deficit-reduction plan that failed to win support in Congress, would have put debt on a downward path and reduced overall spending, including military spending. It also would have reduced Medicare and Medicaid payments and put Social Security on a sustainable footing by reducing some benefits and raising the retirement age. However, Biden plans to address gaps in the U.S. social safety net, which could increase demand for more long-term funding.
Some optimists believe that the federal government could continue expanding the debt many years into the future with few consequences, thanks to the deep reservoirs of trust the U.S. economy has accumulated in the eyes of investors. But many economists say this is simply too risky. The debt doesnt matter until it does, says Maya MacGuineas, president of the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. By taking advantage of our privileged position in the global economy, we may well lose it.
Trump Will Create More Debt Than Obama
Former U.S. President Barack Obama congratulates U.S. President Donald Trump after he took the oath … of office.
In the Federal governments fiscal 2020 year that is ending in three days, President Trump will have overseen a deficit exceeding $3 trillion. This will be after a year where it almost topped $1 trillion in fiscal 2019 when the economy was at least healthy.
These deficits put them on track for the four years that Trump has been in office to exceed the first four years that President Obama was in office when the economy was digging out of the Great Recession.
Before we get into the numbers lets address the argument that Covid-19 is the reason that this years deficit is so large. It is correct that the coronavirus and the subsequent shutdown of the economy forced the government to spend trillions more than planned . However, it can also be argued that if there had been a coordinated, transparent Federal response the impact would have been less.
It should also be pointed out that the statements about how much debt was generated by Obama typically leaves out that when he entered office that the economy was in the teeth of the Great Recession, which he had no control over.
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