Have you done your part to pay down the national debt?
Your share is just $39,000. In the big picture, that really isn’t all that much if you think about it.
How did we get at that number? Luckily for Web Watch, other people smarter than us have CALCULATED EXACTLY WHAT EACH PERSON’S SHARE OF THE NATIONAL DEBT is.
Basically, if you take the entire US government debt (which is about $12.1 trillion) and divide that amongst the entire US population of 304 million people, the debt per American is $39,000.
Of course, that is $39,000 for every man, woman, and child living in the country. Those families with eight children such as the Gosselins would, for example, be on the hook for $351,000 (or the full $390,000 if Jon and Kate get back together and don’t divorce).
Looking at the 2007 US census numbers, there were 112 million households of various sizes. We’re not looking at $39,000 per household – we would need each of those households to make a $108,000 payment in order to get rid of that debt, if Web Watch’s math is correct.
Kinda makes you think about what today’s kids are going to end up owing in a few years if they don’t go out and get a tax-paying job soon.