Chart assignment

Charts to read and discuss

Read each chart, then answer its questions. Every chart shows its source and date; open it for a table of the numbers and the data to download.

  1. How big is the US national debt?

Chart 1 of 1 · Federal budget

How big is the US national debt?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

At the end of fiscal year 2026 the debt was $40.2 trillion, about 4 times the $10 trillion of 2008. In 1835 it had been paid down to about $34,000. Each point is the debt on the last day of that fiscal year (since 1977, September 30), in dollars of the day, not adjusted for inflation.

Questions to discuss

  1. In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
  2. Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
  3. Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?

Source: U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data, Historical Debt Outstanding (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Sep 30, 2026

Open the chart and its numbers

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