US Debt to Hit $19.6 Trillion By 2015

Debt on course to exceed GDP for first time
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 9, 2010 4:05 AM CDT
US Debt to Hit $19.6 Trillion By 2015
Some fund managers have started selling off US Treasury bonds, worrying that the US won't be able to support its national debt.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

America's national debt is now at a dizzying $13.6 trillion and will reach $19.6 trillion in 5 years, according to a Treasury Department report. By 2015 the debt will, for the first time, exceed the value of all goods and services produced in America in a year, reaching 102% of GDP, Reuters notes.

The debt—enough to buy a couple of Canadas or, if you'd prefer, a dozen or two Iraq wars—includes Social Security obligations as well as debt held by both domestic and foreign investors. Bill Gross, head of the world's biggest mutual fund, warns that a "debt super cycle" looms, and that the US won't be able to support the debt if real interest rates go up instead of down.
(More national debt stories.)

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