compiled & edited by Daniel Hagadorn

Though the sheer size of our national debt makes it difficult to grasp, perhaps the following illustration will help:

NOTE: All dollar amounts are expressed in 2010 USD

In 2010, the annual interest on the U.S. national debt was $414 billion. [1]

To put that number in perspective, remember that the ANNUAL INTEREST on the U.S. national debt is MORE than the ENTIRE GDP of the following countries: [2]

Saudi Arabia ($400.2 billion)… Austria ($361.5 billion)… Norway ($346.5 billion)… Denmark ($294.2 billion)… Republic of South Africa ($282.6 billion)… Argentina ($265.5 billion)… Iran ($253.8 billion)… Greece ($252.1 billion)… Thailand ($246.7 billion)… Hong Kong ($231.8 billion)… Finland ($227.4 billion)… Ireland ($220.9 billion)… Portugal ($195.7 billion)… Malaysia ($184.5 billion)… Venezuela ($181.9 billion)… Singapore ($173.9 billion)… United Arab Emirates ($173.4 billion)… Israel ($165.5 billion)… Colombia ($165.4 billion)… Pakistan ($163.5 billion)… Czech Republic ($162.6 billion)… Chile ($158.4 billion)… Philippines ($146.7 billion)… Egypt ($145.9 billion)… Nigeria ($138.2 billion)… Algeria ($127.7 billion)… Romania ($127 billion)… Peru ($122.6 billion)… New Zealand ($117.5 billion)… Hungary ($114.4 billion)… Iraq ($99.3 billion)… Ukraine ($98.5 billion)… Kuwait ($93.6 billion)… Puerto Rico ($87.5 billion)… Kazakhstan ($84.6 billion)… Vietnam ($81 billion)… Bangladesh ($80 billion)… Morocco ($74.2 billion)… Zaire ($71.2 billion)… Slovakia ($67.7 billion)… Angola ($50.7 billion)… Libya ($54.2 billion)… Burma Myanmar ($54 billion)… Serbia ($53.2 billion)… Belarus ($52.3 billion)… Cuba ($47.4 billion)… Sudan ($45.9 billion)… Ecuador ($45.1 billion)… Croatia ($43.8 billion)… Luxembourg ($43 billion)… Oman ($42.9 billion)… Guatemala ($42.2 billion)… Slovenia ($41.3 billion)… Dominican Republic ($40.6 billion)… Tunisia ($38.8 billion)… Syria ($37.5 billion)… Sri Lanka ($34.1 billion)… Bulgaria ($33.7 billion)… Azerbaijan ($32.8 billion)… Lebanon ($31.3 billion)… Lithuania ($29.3 billion)… Uruguay ($27.1 billion)… Kenya ($26.6 billion)… Costa Rica ($25.7 billion)… Panama ($24.6 billion)… Cameroon ($21.5 billion)… Cyprus ($20.8 billion)… El Salvador ($20.4 billion)… Cote D’Ivoire ($20.1 billion)… Uzbekistan ($19.7 billion)… Afghanistan ($19.5 billion)… Bahrain ($18.7 billion)… Jordan ($18.3 billion)… Macau ($18 billion)… Albania ($17.4 billion)… Ethiopia ($16.9 billion)… Iceland ($16.7 billion)… Latvia ($16.6 billion)… Tanzania ($16.5 billion)… Trinidad & Tobago ($16.1 billion)… Ghana ($15.2 billion)… Estonia ($14.7 billion)… Turkmenistan ($14.3 billion)… Uganda ($14.0 billion)… Zambia ($13.2 billion)… Bolivia ($12.7 billion)… Bosnia Herzegovina ($12.5 billion)… Paraguay ($11.6 billion)… Botswana ($10.8 billion)… Senegal ($10.7 billion)… Honduras ($10.6 billion)… Gabon ($10.4billion)… Brunei ($10.2 billion)… Nepal ($9.9 billion)… Jamaica ($9.8 billion)… Mozambique ($9.2 billion)… Georgia ($9.1 billion)… Cambodia ($8.1 billion)… Mauritius ($7.9 billion)… French Polynesia ($7.8 billion)… Mali ($7.6 billion)… Namibia ($7.6 billion)… Burkina ($7.6 billion)… Macedonia ($7.4 billion)… Rwanda ($7.3 billion)… New Caledonia ($7.2 billion)… Malta & Gozo ($7.1 billion)… Bahamas ($6.9 billion)… Papua New Guinea ($6.9 billion)… Madagascar ($6.8 billion)… Armenia ($6.6 billion)… Republic of Congo ($6.5 billion)… Chad ($6.5 billion)… Benin ($5.9 billion)… Yemen ($5.9 billion)… Nicaragua ($5.9 billion)… Haiti ($5.1 billion)… West Bank ($4.9 billion)… Niger ($4.7 billion)… Laos ($4.7 billion)… Malawi ($4.2 billion)… Equatorial Guinea ($4.1 billion)… Guinea ($4.0 billion)… Bermuda ($3.7 billion)… Tajikistan ($3.7 billion)… Moldova ($3.6 billion)… Barbados ($3.4 billion)… Swaziland ($3.2 billion)… Mongolia ($3.2 billion)… Fiji ($3.1 billion)… Kyrgyzstan ($3.1 billion)… Togo ($2.9 billion)… Mauritania ($2.4 billion)… Central African Republic ($1.8 billion)… Suriname ($1.7 billion)… Bhutan ($1.7 billion)… Cape Verde Islands ($1.6 billion)… Belize ($1.3 billion)… Lesotho ($1.3 billion)… Sierra Leone ($1.3 billion)… Liberia ($1.2 billion)…

Or put another way, the DAILY INTEREST on the U.S. national debt is MORE than the ENTIRE GDP of the following countries:

Antigua & Barbuda ($1.1 billion)… Maldives Islands ($1.1 billion)… Eritrea ($1.1 billion)… St. Lucia ($1.0 billion)… Burundi ($970 million)… Djibouti ($970 million)… Guyana ($960 million)… Seychelles ($764 million)… St. Vincent & the Grenadines ($576 million)… Grenada ($553 million)… St. Kitts & Nevis ($531 million)… Vanuatu New Hebrides ($476 million)… Samoa ($454 million)… Gambia ($454 million)… Comoros Islands ($432 million)… Guinea Bissau ($410 million)… Zimbabwe ($410 million)… Solomon Islands ($398 million)… Dominica ($365 million)… Tonga ($266 million)… Federated States of Micronesia ($255 million)… Palau ($188 million)… Marshall Islands ($144 million)… Sao Tome & Principe ($99.6 million)… Kiribati & Tuvalu Gilbert Islands ($99.6 million).

Confronted by the sheer enormity this fiscal mismanagement, the stunning ignorance guiding U.S. economic policy becomes all the more difficult to swallow. Federal bureaucrats naïvely suggest that the government should simply, “Tax the rich back into the stone age!” But how would that work out?

According to Forbes, the top ten richest people in America have a combined personal net worth of  $270.8 billion: [3]

Bill Gates ($54 billion)… Warren Buffett ($45 billion)… Larry Ellison ($27 billion)… Christy Walton & family ($24 billion)… Charles Koch ($21.5 billion)… David Koch ($21.5 billion)… Jim Walton ($20.1 billion)… Alice Walton ($20 billion)… S. Robson Walton ($19.7 billion)… Michael Bloomberg ($18 billion).

Even if the IRS confiscated every last penny of their entire net worth, the federal government could only fund itself for 5.6 days (at $48 billion per day). Then what? Fortunately for America, the residents of the land of rainbows, lollipops, and unicorns have a solution to all of our economic woes by demanding that we force the rich to pay their “fair” share:

NOTE: All income thresholds have been adjusted for inflation and are expressed in 2010 USD.

In 1980…

• There were 93,239,000 federal individual income tax returns filed.
• The top 1% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $210,402—paid 19% of all taxes.
• The top 5% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $114,345—paid 37% of all taxes.
• The top 10% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $91,571—paid 49% of all taxes.
• The top 50% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $33,777—paid 93% of all taxes.
• The bottom 50% of taxpayers paid only 7% of all taxes.

In 1985…

• There were 100,625,000 federal individual income tax returns filed.
• The top 1% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $216,153—paid 22% of all taxes.
• The top 5% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $117,703—paid 39% of all taxes.
• The top 10% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $92,595—paid 51% of all taxes.
• The top 50% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $33,358—paid 93% of all taxes.
• The bottom 50% of taxpayers paid only 7% of all taxes.

NOTE: The Tax Reform Act of 1986 changed the definition of Adjusted Gross Income (AGI).

In 1990…

• There were 112,812,000 federal individual income tax returns filed.
• The top 1% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $275,691—paid 25% of all taxes.
• The top 5% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $130,194—paid 44% of all taxes.
• The top 10% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $99,274—paid 55% of all taxes.
• The top 50% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $32,550—paid 94% of all taxes.
• The bottom 50% of taxpayers paid only 6% of all taxes.

In 1995…

• There were 117,274,000 federal individual income tax returns filed.
• The top 1% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $296,612—paid 30% of all taxes.
• The top 5% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $136,292—paid 49% of all taxes.
• The top 10% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $102,117—paid 61% of all taxes.
• The top 50% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $31,649—paid 95% of all taxes.
• The bottom 50% of taxpayers paid only 5% of all taxes.

In 2000…

• There were 128,227,000 federal individual income tax returns filed.
• The top 1% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $392,872—paid 37% of all taxes.
• The top 5% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $160,844—paid 56% of all taxes.
• The top 10% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $115,484—paid 67% of all taxes.
• The top 50% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $34,694—paid 96% of all taxes.
• The bottom 50% of taxpayers paid only 4% of all taxes.

In 2005…

• There were 132,612,000 federal individual income tax returns filed.
• The top 1% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $403,601—paid 39% of all taxes.
• The top 5% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $160,799—paid 60% of all taxes.
• The top 10% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $115,009—paid 70% of all taxes.
• The top 50% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $34,179—paid 97% of all taxes.
• The bottom 50% of taxpayers paid only 3% of all taxes.

In 2008…

• There were 139,961,000 federal individual income tax returns filed.
• The top 1% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $384,894—paid 38% of all taxes.
• The top 5% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $161,524—paid 59% of all taxes.
• The top 10% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $115,157—paid 70% of all taxes.
• The top 50% of taxpayers—or those earning at least $33,442—paid 97% of all taxes.
• The bottom 50% of taxpayers paid only 3% of all taxes.

To tax a citizen’s earnings and savings—for other than defensive purposes—is to reduce both their capacity and their incentive to care for themselves and for others. Furthermore, this enslaves and debases the citizen who is then forced to rely upon the taxing power of government for their livelihood.

Government is intrinsically noncreative and can distribute ONLY what it first taxes away from the productive efforts of individuals. It is for this reason that statists are such fervent acolytes of coercion and accept without question the dogma that government is the answer to every problem.

It is long past time for federal bureaucrats and the politicians who appoint them to put on their “big boy” pants and start acting like the Framers of the Constitution intended. (And it wouldn’t hurt if they took some Economics 101 classes).