Expanded Chart Book Shows Impact of Skyrocketing National Debt

Press release from the issuing company

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

In roughly 20 years, the typical American's share of the national debt will more than triple—unlessWashingtongets the nation's fiscal house in order. That's just one of many insights into the nation's fiscal balance sheet that The Heritage Foundation presents in bold graphics in today's release of an expanded2011 Budget Chart Book.

Right now, the national debt averages$31,871for each American—nearly consuming the median household income of$50,255. Without any real spending cuts or reforms, theHeritage Budget Chart Book illustratesthat debt spikes to$103,827per American by 2032.

"For younger generations, the story gets worse," saysAlison Acosta Fraser, director of Heritage's Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies. "By 2044, each American's share of the national debt has redoubled to$206,771. And it keeps going up after that."

The expanded version of the Heritage Budget Chart Book contains 42 graphics that portrayWashington's unprecedented levels of spending, deficits and debt. Seven brand-new graphics have been added since a 2011 preview edition of the chart book was released in April.

One chartcompares President Obama's 2012 budget and Heritage's fiscal plan to fix the debt,"Saving the American Dream."Under the President's budget,net interest spendingon the nation's debt would more than triple in the next decade. But the Heritage plan is projected to balance the budget in 10 years and dramatically reduce the debt to 30 percent of GDP by 2035.

"What comes through strikingly in each graphic is thatWashingtonhas a spending problem that must be corrected," Fraser says, noting thatentitlement programscontinue to be the main driver of increased federal spending. For example,an updated chartshows how a lack of entitlement reform pushes spending to engulf half of the economy by 2056.