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Debt Research Paper

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The debt in the United States has been growing for decades and has accumulated all the way up to 19.9 trillion dollars. This amounts to 61,036 for each person living in the U.S, 157,735 for each household, 104 % of the U.S gross domestic product, and 546% of annual federal revenues. Tackling debt and deficits is a national security issue that affects our ability to compete in the international system. The proportion of U.S. government debt held by foreign entities has significantly increased. United States has advanced in technology these past few years swiftly. Computers are more advanced, internet has gotten substantially faster. United States has unarmed airplanes, better weapons, improved spy technology, and etc. These unarmed …show more content…

The US will argue that they are protecting the citizens from threats. The US will reply by saying they are protecting the citizens from threats. There are hundreds of threats to the US and the government ensures that it has the best equipment to protect its citizens.
For nearly 150 years the U.S. government managed to keep a balanced budget. The only time a budget deficit existed during these years was in times of war or other catastrophic events. For instance, the government created deficits during the War of 1812, the recession of 1837, the Civil War, the depression of the 1890s, and World War I. However, once each incident ended the deficit would be eliminated. The economy was much stronger than the accumulated debt and would therefore quickly absorb it. The last time the budget ran a surplus was in 1969 during Nixon's presidency. Budget deficits have grown larger and more frequent in the last half-century. In the 1980s they soared to record levels. The government cut income tax rates, greatly increased defense spending, and didn't cut domestic spending enough to make up the difference. The deep recession of the early 1980s reduced revenues, raising the deficit and forcing the Government to spend much more on paying interest for the national debt at a time when interest rates were high. As a result, the national debt grew exponentially in size after 1980. It grew from $709 billion to $3.3 trillion in

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