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U.S. Federal Government Debt Over Time
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So What?
1) This chart was created from historical tables included in the U.S. Federal Government fiscal year 2010 budget. The federal
government adjusted its fiscal year one calendar quarter (3 months) during 1976, creating a 'transition quarter,' which has been
neglected in this chart.
2) The chart shows the federal debt, or how much more it spent than it collected in revenue during each fiscal year from 1940
to 2008, with projections through 2014. This debt represents money the government borrowed to pay its expenses.
3) The line with blue circles shows the debt in current dollars, neglecting inflation. Inflation reduces the buying power of the
dollar over time.
4) The line with purple triangles shows the debt adjusted for inflation, where the data has been scaled to the constant dollar
value during fiscal year 2000. Inflation-adjusted values are also referred to as 'real' values.
5) Inflation values used to calculate the inflation-adjusted debt were also collected from historical tables included in the fiscal
2010 U.S. Federal Government budget.
6) From the inflation-adjusted debt data, one can see that the real debt grew dramatically through 1945, then slowly shrank
through the mid-1970s. In the early 1980s the debt grew dramatically through the mid-1990s when debt growth slowed and
began to shrink around the year 2000. Since 2002, the growth of the debt has continued its dramatic rise and is projected to
continue to grow rapidly through 2014.
7) This chart doesn't tell us anything about the debt relative to the size of the population or size of the economy (Gross
Domestic Product). One might expect that the debt load might grow as the population or economy grows.
8) See also U.S. Federal Debt per U.S. Resident Over Time.
9) See also U.S. Federal Debt as a Percent of GDP Over Time.
1) This chart was created from historical tables included in the U.S. Federal Government fiscal year 2010 budget. The federal
government adjusted its fiscal year one calendar quarter (3 months) during 1976, creating a 'transition quarter,' which has been
neglected in this chart.
2) The chart shows the federal debt, or how much more it spent than it collected in revenue during each fiscal year from 1940
to 2008, with projections through 2014. This debt represents money the government borrowed to pay its expenses.
3) The line with blue circles shows the debt in current dollars, neglecting inflation. Inflation reduces the buying power of the
dollar over time.
4) The line with purple triangles shows the debt adjusted for inflation, where the data has been scaled to the constant dollar
value during fiscal year 2000. Inflation-adjusted values are also referred to as 'real' values.
5) Inflation values used to calculate the inflation-adjusted debt were also collected from historical tables included in the fiscal
2010 U.S. Federal Government budget.
6) From the inflation-adjusted debt data, one can see that the real debt grew dramatically through 1945, then slowly shrank
through the mid-1970s. In the early 1980s the debt grew dramatically through the mid-1990s when debt growth slowed and
began to shrink around the year 2000. Since 2002, the growth of the debt has continued its dramatic rise and is projected to
continue to grow rapidly through 2014.
7) This chart doesn't tell us anything about the debt relative to the size of the population or size of the economy (Gross
Domestic Product). One might expect that the debt load might grow as the population or economy grows.
8) See also U.S. Federal Debt per U.S. Resident Over Time.
9) See also U.S. Federal Debt as a Percent of GDP Over Time.
Supporting Evidence
Current Dollar Debt: Budget of the U.S. Government, FY2010 Historical Tables, Table 7.1-Federal Debt at the End of Year: 1940-2014
Deflators: Budget of the U.S. Government, FY2010 Historical Tables, Table 10.1- Gross Domestic Product and Deflators Used in the Historical
Tables: 1940-2014
Deflators: Budget of the U.S. Government, FY2010 Historical Tables, Table 10.1- Gross Domestic Product and Deflators Used in the Historical
Tables: 1940-2014
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