The U.S. public debt, commonly called the national debt, is the amount of money owed by the the United States federal government. This does not include the money owed by states, corporations, or individuals.
The total U.S. federal debt was approximately $9.5 trillion, about $31,100 per capita (that is, per U.S. resident) on April 2008. Of this amount, debt held by the public was roughly $5.3 trillion. If, in addition, unfunded Medicaid, Social Security, etc. promises are added, this figure rises to a total of $59.1 trillion. In 2007 the public debt was 36.8 percent of GDP ranking 65th in the world. The total debt is currently 66.5% of GNP.
Goverment debt typically takes the form of new issues of government bonds which are sold on the open market. However, the debt can also be monetized by which the Federal Reserve creates an entry on its books to credit the US Government for an amount equal to the dollar amount of the bonds the Federal Reserve is acquiring.
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