TOTAL U.S. DEBT
IN NOM
INAL DOLLARS
GREAT DEPRESSION
New Deal programs lift the
debt from $23 billion in
1933 to $36 billion by 1937.
POSTWAR
The debt
increases as the
U.S. starts
many programs,
but economic
growth helps
keep up with
the spending.
WORLD WAR I
The war effort costs the U.S. some
$32 billion, with 58% paid through
borrowing from the public.
2049:
144%
78%
2018:
$21.5
trillion
WORLD WAR II
War expenditures
and loans to other
countries add
$211 billion to the
debt, mostly in the
form of war bonds.
By 1945, the debt has
soared to $259 billion.
U.S. FEDERAL DEBT
AS A PERCENTAGE
OF GDP
CIVIL WAR
Government bonds
are sold to finance
the Union’s military.
Debt hits 31% of GDP.
REAGAN ERA
Between 1980 and
1990, debt triples
and reaches
$3.2 trillion to fund
the Cold War
military buildup
and new efforts like
“the war on drugs.”
GREAT
RECESSION
Revenues shrink,
and government
outlays increase.
The debt reaches
$14.8 trillion
in 2011.
THE ROARING Õ20S
Amid a market boom,
debt shrinks from
$26 billion to $16 billion.
0
40
80
60
20
120
140% of GDP
100% of GDP
1850
1870
1890
1910
1930
1950
1970
1990
2010
2030
2050
0
5
10
15
$20 trillion
L AST BY TE
136
FORTUNE.COM // SEPTEMBER 2019
PILING UP DEBT IN TIMES OF TUMULT IS A STRATEGY with a long, successful history in the U.S. When confronted with wars or cataclysmic
downturns, the government borrows heavily—driving up debt relative to U.S. GDP—and rebalances after good times return. But a
decade after the most recent crisis-driven borrowing binge, the Great Recession, U.S. debt continues to soar. According to the Treasury
Department, federal borrowing is set to hit $1.23 trillion in 2019 on top of $1.34 trillion in 2018. Absent major legal or policy changes,
the Congressional Budget Office projects the debt-to-GDP ratio will rise into uncharted territory in decades to come. —BRIAN O’KEEFE
BUIL DING A MOUN TA IN OF DEBT
SOURCES: CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE; TREASURY DEPARTMENT GRAPHIC BY NICOLAS RAPP
