Where's the money coming from?

By Dennis Sevakis

Is the United States bankrupt yet? If not, where will we manage to get another trillion dollars?

I report the numbers, you decide.

I especially like the new "Hope Bonds" that have been issued. Can "A wing and a prayer" series be far behind? Will deflation result in a reduction of the value of Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities?

Perhaps that's the bright side to all of this.

Historical Debt Outstanding - Annual 2000 - 2008
Includes legal tender notes, gold and silver certificates, etc.

The first fiscal year for the U.S. Government started Jan. 1, 1789. Congress changed the beginning of the fiscal year from Jan. 1 to Jul. 1 in 1842, and finally from Jul. 1 to Oct. 1 in 1977 where it remains today.

To find more historical information, visit The Public Debt Historical Information archives.

Date	Dollar Amount
09/30/2008	10,024,724,896,912.49
09/30/2007	9,007,653,372,262.48
09/30/2006	8,506,973,899,215.23
09/30/2005	7,932,709,661,723.50
09/30/2004	7,379,052,696,330.32
09/30/2003	6,783,231,062,743.62
09/30/2002	6,228,235,965,597.16
09/30/2001	5,807,463,412,200.06
09/30/2000	5,674,178,209,886.86

Links to the two Treasury Dept. PDF files used to construct the table given below:

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/2007/opds092007.pdf

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/2008/opds092008.pdf

	SUMMARY OF TREASURY SECURITIES OUTSTANDING AS OF SEPTEMBER 30th
	Millions of U.S. Dollars
	Publicly Held			Intra-governmental			Total U.S. Debt
	2007	2008	'08 - '07	2007	2008	'08 - '07	2007	2008	'08 - '07

Bills	954,607	1,484,332	529,725	3,474	5,476	2,002	958,081	1,489,808	531,727
Notes	2,456,100	2,623,364	167,264	1,939	1,395	-544	2,458,039	2,624,759	166,720
Bonds	560,922	578,504	17,582	176	4,368	4,192	561,098	582,872	21,774
Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities	456,776	523,951	67,175	140	586	446	456,916	524,537	67,621
Federal Financing Bank	0	0	0	14,000	14,000	0	14,000	14,000	0
	4,428,405	5,210,151	781,746	19,729	25,825	6,096	4,448,134	5,235,976	787,842


Domestic Series	29,995	29,995	0	0	0	0	29,995	29,995	0
Foreign Series	2,986	2,986	0	0	0	0	2,986	2,986	0
REA Series	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0
State and Local Government Series	296,513	260,238	-36,275	0	0	0	296,513	260,238	-36,275
United States Savings Securities	197,126	194,253	-2,873	0	0	0	197,126	194,253	-2,873
Government Account Series	88,153	107,498	19,345	3,938,619	4,190,179	251,560	4,026,772	4,297,677	270,905
Hope Bonds²¹	0	0	0	0	30	30	0	30	30
Other	6,126	3,569	-2,557	0	0	0	6,126	3,569	-2,557
	620,900	598,540	-22,360	3,938,619	4,190,208	251,589	4,559,519	4,788,749	229,230

	5,049,306	5,808,692	759,386	3,958,348	4,216,033	257,685	9,007,653	10,024,725	1,017,072
A Hope Bond was issued on August 28, 2008, pursuant to the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, Public Law 110-289 (2008). These long-term nonmarketable securities have been issued to the Federal Financing Bank for the HOPE for Homeowners Program.