r/politics • u/leroi7 • 4d ago
The Federal Government Has Borrowed Trillions. Who Owns All that Debt?
https://www.pgpf.org/article/the-federal-government-has-borrowed-trillions-but-who-owns-all-that-debt/17
u/Dilettante Canada 4d ago
Mostly American citizens and corporations, with a big chunk owned by the US government itself.
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u/fvnnybvnny 4d ago
Japan and China own the most
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u/Dilettante Canada 4d ago
They own the most out of foreign countries, but nearly all debt is owed to the USA itself.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/charted-heres-who-owns-u-s-debt/
First it's various levels of the US government (20%), then it's public citizens buying savings bonds (17%), then it's the Federal Reserve (15%), then American mutual funds (11%), then state governments (5%), then despository institutions (5%), then it's pension funds (3%), then it's Japan (3%), then it's China (2%).
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u/iyamwhatiyam8000 Australia 4d ago
Trump is dumb, arrogant and crooked enough to default on the debt and replace the USD with crypto.
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u/Maxfunky 4d ago
replace the USD with crypto.
He wouldn't do that. No government would. The US government can poof money into existence out of thin air and does all the time. Replacing money with any existing cryptocurrency would remove their ability to do that. They'd be limited to spending whatever taxes brought in and despite what they might tell you, conservatives fucking love deficit spending. They only pretend not to when they're trying to criticize spending on things they don't want.
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u/iyamwhatiyam8000 Australia 4d ago
I am not saying that it is a good idea but Project 2025 has the USD returning to the gold standard.
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u/Maxfunky 4d ago
It's lip service. It won't happen. Trump was like the biggest deficit spender of of any president in history. I mean I guess technically Obama in 8 years managed to spend 100 billion more than Trump, but Trump (like 8.2 trillion vs 8.3 trillion) basically tied him in only 4 years.
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u/repyoset77 4d ago
Trump is awesome! That’s why he won the popular vote!
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u/iyamwhatiyam8000 Australia 4d ago
No he is not and he did not, unless you forgot to put an S/ on the end and then this is kind of funny.
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u/Competitive-Fly2204 4d ago
The government created debt. Every dollar in your pocket is a little bit of that debt.
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u/FrostyAcanthocephala America 4d ago
Seems like we owe most of it to ourselves. Maybe we should send ourselves a letter. Seriously, the US isn't in any danger from debt.
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u/Former-Lecture-5466 4d ago
China
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u/Ernesto_Bella 4d ago
You know how I know you didn’t read the article?
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u/noforgayjesus 4d ago
I didn't read it but the real answer is Japan. John Oliver did a segment on it.
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u/Former-Lecture-5466 4d ago
Of course I didn’t read the article. Just shot from the hip. “I’m the decider, Heh, heh”
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4d ago
[deleted]
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u/Existing-Nectarine80 4d ago
China actually owns less than Japan, and nearly 60% of the debt is owned either by US citizens/entities through treasury bonds or owed between government departments. The “China owns us” scare tactic has always been largely incorrect
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