The Outstanding Government Debt

Report Outline
The Present Size of the Government Debt
Growth and Composition of the Public Debt
Gross and Net Government Debt
The Credit of the Federal Government
Special Focus

The Present Size of the Government Debt

On September 30, the official figure for the outstanding public debt of the United States government was $38,392,725,250. The federal deficit for the first quarter of the current fiscal year was over $700,000,000, and is expected to grow to about $4,000,000,000 by June 30, 1939, at which time it is estimated that the debt will exceed $40,000,000,000.

No complete figure for the combined debts of the states and local units is available later than 1932, but several government departments have cooperated to prepare an estimate as of June 30, 1937, based on samples covering 90 per cent of the debt-contracting agencies. According to this estimate, the outstanding amount of government securities other than those of the federal government was $19,594,600,000. Since the corresponding amount was $19,576,400,000 in 1932, it is fair to assume in the absence of evidence to the contrary that there has been no great change during the last fifteen months. The total amount of federal, state and local securities outstanding is therefore in the neighborhood of $58,000,000,000.

This figure does not, however, give an accurate picture of government debt. In addition, there are several billion dollars of securities issued by agencies of government, such as the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the Federal Land Banks. For some of these debts, government is legally responsible, and for most of them there is a moral responsibility. At the present time, the debts are apparently more than matched by the assets of these agencies, but final liquidation may prove otherwise.