The combined total U.S. debt reached $100.4 trillion during the second quarter of 2024, passing that level for the first time ever. For the 21st century and before, the United States has, for the most part, been living off its debt—not for productive purposes, but for investments in speculative purposes, to refinance old debts, and barely maintain its existence.
Using Federal Reserve Board and Treasury Department data, EIR has determined the total United States debt. In 2014, that figure reached $62.1 trillion, including federal government debt: $18.1 trillion; state and local government debt: $3.1 trillion; household debt (including home mortgages, credit card debt, etc.): $13.9 trillion; business debt (including corporate debt): $12.6 trillion; and the domestic debt of financial sectors (including banks): $14.3 trillion.
In the second quarter of 2024, just 10 years later, that figure burgeoned to $100.4 trillion. That includes U.S. federal government debt: $35.7 trillion; state and local debt: $3.0 trillion; household debt: $20.2 trillion; business debt: $21.4 trillion; and the domestic debt of financial sectors: $19.8 trillion.
Between 2014 and the second quarter of 2024, the total debt of the United States leapt from $62.1 trillion to $100.4 trillion, a growth of 62%. Or, the increment of total U.S. debt for that 10 years, $38.3 trillion, exceeds the total debt outstanding of nearly every country in the world.
