Our National Debt, Visualized | Bipartisan Policy Center (2024)

FAQs

What does 1 trillion dollars look like in $100 bills? ›

What does 1 trillion dollars look like in $100 dollar bills? Using the following definitions of million, billion and trillion... This is a stack of one hundred $100 dollar bills, which is about 6" by 2-1/2" by 0.43" high.

Nearly half of all US foreign-owned debt comes from five countries. All values are adjusted to 2023 dollars. As of January 2023, the five countries owning the most US debt are Japan ($1.1 trillion), China ($859 billion), the United Kingdom ($668 billion), Belgium ($331 billion), and Luxembourg ($318 billion).

In total, other territories hold about $7.4 trillion in U.S. debt. Japan owns the most at $1.1 trillion, followed by China, with $859 billion, and the United Kingdom at $668 billion.

Debt-to-GDP Ratio

The $34 trillion is also bigger than our own economy. The United States' gross domestic product, or GDP, which is the sum total of all the goods and services we produce in a year, is about is about $27 trillion.

As an illustration, imagine you had $100 bills. A $10,000 stack of $100 bills would measure about one-half an inch thick. A pile of $100 bills totaling $1 million dollars would fit inside a standard school backpack, while $100 million would fit on a standard construction pallet.

Let's look at a few statistics. A stack of one billion dollars bills would be 67.9 miles high. A trillion dollar bills would reach 67,866 miles into space. A trillion dollar bills, laid end to end, would stretch 96,906,656 miles—further than the distance of the earth to the sun.

The United States pays interest on approximately $850 billion in debt held by the People's Republic of China. China, however, is currently in default on its sovereign debt held by American bondholders.

Interest Rates

Maintaining interest rates at low levels can help stimulate the economy, generate tax revenue, and, ultimately, reduce the national debt. Lower interest rates make it easier for individuals and businesses to borrow money for goods and services, which creates jobs and increases tax revenues.

Intragovernmental debt accounts for 26 percent or $5.9 trillion. The public includes foreign investors and foreign governments. These two groups account for 30 percent of the debt. Individual investors and banks represent 15 percent of the debt.

Thus, debt is continually paid down and new debt incurred, to be paid down by creation of new debt, ad infinitum. If total indebtedness as a percentage of the national economy does not grow, this can continue forever.

Which country has no debt? ›

1) Switzerland

Switzerland is a country that, in practically all economic and social metrics, is an example to follow. With a population of almost 9 million people, Switzerland has no natural resources of its own, no access to the sea, and virtually no public debt.

If China (or any other nation that has a trade surplus with the U.S.) stops buying U.S. Treasuries or even starts dumping its U.S. forex reserves, its trade surplus would become a trade deficit—something which no export-oriented economy would want, as they would be worse off as a result.

One of the main culprits is consistently overspending. When the federal government spends more than its budget, it creates a deficit. In the fiscal year of 2023, it spent about $381 billion more than it collected in revenues. To pay that deficit, the government borrows money.

Not surprisingly, as big as the debt is, government securities remain a prime investment, and the government still borrows at lower interest rates than any other lender.

Around 70% of Japanese government bonds are purchased by the Bank of Japan, and much of the remainder is purchased by Japanese banks and trust funds, which largely insulates the prices and yields of such bonds from the effects of the global bond market and reduces their sensitivity to credit rating changes.

A $100 bill weighs . 8 grams.. there are 10 millions of $100 in $1trillion which when weighed is 8 million grams. There are 8,000 kilograms in 8 million grams or 8.818 tons.

Zimbabwe's central bank allowed its citizens to exchange the country's almost worthless currency for US dollars. Its 100-trillion-dollar note is worth just 40 U.S. cents.

1 billion dollars in 100 dollar bills is 10 million individual bills. A single brand new bill is 0.0043 inches thick, so that would be a single pile of bills that is 43000 inches thick, which is he same as 3584 feet, or a pile that is 0.68 miles tall.

As of today, no billionaire is within striking distance of becoming a trillionaire. Elon Musk is, at present, the world's richest person, with a net worth of $206 billion, while Jeff Bezos is in the number two position with $179 billion, according to Bloomberg.