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Definition of 'Federal Debt'
The total amount of money that the United States federal government owes to creditors. The government's creditors include all individuals, businesses, governments and other organizations that own U.S. government debt securities. The federal debt exists as a result of federal government shortfalls, or deficit budgets in which the government's expenses exceed its revenues. The federal debt does not include any debts in the name of individuals, corporations and state or municipal governments.
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Investopedia explains 'Federal Debt'
In recent years, the federal debt has grown to exorbitant amounts - as of April 2006, the total federal debt was estimated to be $8.4 trillion. Viewed as an absolute number, the federal debt seems quite enormous, representing more than 20% of total worldwide debt.
However, some economists point out that the federal debt is only about two-thirds the size of the U.S. GDP - a statistic that puts the U.S. well below the debt-to-GDP levels of other industrialized countries, such as Japan. Heated debate continues as to whether the federal debt is too large and should be paid down, or whether it is simply a necessary catalyst for continued economic growth.
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Search results for 'Federal Debt'
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http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/11/successful-ways-government-reduces-debt.asp
... Successful Ways That Governments Reduce Federal Debt. August 04 2011 |
Filed Under ยป Economics. Throughout history, which methods ...
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http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/09/debt-monetization.asp
... refer to What Is Money?) Monetizing the debt can also be characterized as money
growth in excess of the federal debt or no money growth in relation to debt. ...
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http://www.investopedia.com/articles/04/011404.asp
... financing. However, the only way to reduce debt is for the federal budget's
expenditures to cease to exceed its revenues. Budget ...
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http://www.investopedia.com/articles/younginvestors/09/consolidate-student-loans.asp
... You can consolidate all federal student loans and most private student loans. ... (For
background reading, see Debt Consolidation Made Easy.) In Pictures: Credit ...
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http://www.investopedia.com/articles/basics/04/052104.asp
... In the case of the refund of a prior debt issue, the question is whether
or not the debt is refundable under federal tax rules. ...
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http://www.investopedia.com/articles/06/mortgagebackedsecurities.asp
... How They Are Formed MBS are debt obligations purchased from banks, mortgage ... Federal
Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) Freddie Mac is a federally ...
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http://www.investopedia.com/university/student-loans/student-loans7.asp
... (For background reading, see Debt Consolidation Made Easy.) How Federal Student
Loan Consolidation Works You took out one loan per semester, and each one may ...
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http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/10/national-debt.asp
... a nation, it is first important to understand what the difference is between the
federal government's annual budget deficit, and the country's national debt. ...
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http://www.investopedia.com/articles/retirement/10/paying-off-debt-401k.asp
... 10 years. Example 2: You have $45,000 in federal student loan debt
consolidated for 25 years at a 6% fixed interest rate. You can ...
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http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0811/What-If-There-Were-No-Government.aspx
... US federal debt is the largest single investment instrument in the market, and the
disappearance of a federal government would have everyone scrambling to ...
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