The numbers cited by Duquesne University economist Antony Davies in this video are at least one year behind. As bad as things are according to his video, they?re even worse now; e.g., he notes that total federal debt outstanding is $14.3 trillion; however, since we?re clocking annual budget deficits of around $1.4 trillion these days, the current number actually stands at around $16 trillion (source: US Debt Clock @ www.usdebtclock.org)). When you add in unfunded federal government obligations (i.e., Social Security and Medicare), professor Davies cites a $50 trillion figure, which represents the present value of 75-year projections that are published each year by the Social Security Administration. Thus the sum total of debt outstanding plus unfunded obligations is north of $65 trillion (or $207,429 for every person currently living in the United States).
I?ll conclude by noting that the official ?Summary of the 2011 Annual Reports? published by the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees (source: http://www.ssa.gov/oact/TRSUM) includes the following caveat: ?The financial conditions of the Social Security and Medicare programs remain challenging. Projected long-run program costs for both Medicare and Social Security are not sustainable under currently scheduled financing, and will require legislative modifications if disruptive consequences for beneficiaries and taxpayers are to be avoided.?
Source: http://risk.garven.com/2012/08/23/how-big-is-the-u-s-debt-2/
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