CHAPTER

3 Activity:
National Debt Crisis

Name_______________________________________ Date_____________________________

Objective
The purpose of this activity is to evaluate the debt crisis that America faces by
visiting www.usdebtclock.org.

Directions
Go to www.usdebtclock.org and evaluate the severity of America’s debt problem. Red items indicate debts and
green items indicate assets. When you become familiar with the categories, answer the questions below.

 1 How much is the “U.S. National Debt”? (Round to the nearest million)

 2 How much is the “Debt per Citizen”? (Round to the nearest dollar)

 3 As a taxpayer, how could you come up with this amount?

 4 How much is the “U.S. Federal Tax Revenue”? (Round to the nearest million) If the U.S. were to use this to pay
off the debt, how much debt would be left?

 5 Locate the “Largest Budget Items” section. How did Medicare, Social Security and Federal Pensions become
debt items when Americans pay into them constantly?

 6 How can the U.S. stop going further in debt?

 7 Locate the middle right of the site. How much is the “Savings per Family”? If each family were to use their
savings to pay off the “Total Debt per Family,” how much debt would remain? (Round to the nearest dollar)

 8 Locate the “Money Creation” section. What would happen if the U.S. printed enough money to cover all the
debts?

 9 Click on your state in the “State Debt Clocks” located at the top left. How does your state government compare
to the federal government in “Debt per Citizen”?

 10 Click on the “World Debt Clocks” located at the top left. Which three countries have the lowest “External Debt
to GDP Ratio” (money owed to other countries compared to Gross Domestic Product)? Which three have the
highest “External Debt to GDP Ratio”?

FOUNDATIONS IN PERSONAL FINANCE COLLEGE EDITION CHAPTER 3: DEBT