National Debt
One might imagine the United States of America as a super-rich country with the brightest future, but in fact the U.S has the largest national debt, and the national debt is increasing at an unbelievable rate every second. National debt is the total amount the federal government owes because of money it has borrowed by selling bonds or other securities. The national debt exists because the government expenditure constantly exceeds its income from taxes year after year. As much as the national debt has increased, people’s concerns for the national debt increase has also grown. More news about the national debt is being published than before as the federal government is taking more steps forward to solve the national debt problem. With the current debt-increasing rate, it is possible to have another major financial crisis in the future such as recession or depression. To avoid such disasters, the United States government has to come up well-analyzed plan to decrease the national debt while maintaining increasing GDP.
Until 1980’s, wars were the most common cause of increases in the United States national debt. According to “National Debt Facts,” before World War 1 (1914-1918), the national debt was only 1 billion dollars. When the war was over, we had nearly about 25 billion dollars. Also, by end of the World War 2 in 1945, the national debt had increased to about 259 billion dollars. The Korean War in the early 1950’s and the Vietnam War in the 1960’s caused it to rise sharply again (Agresti). Wars caused the debt to increase by more than 250 times in less than a century. Government needed money to hire people to make weapons that were used to destroy each other’s country. Wars have been responsible for high national debt not only in the United States but also for many other countries. With the cost that follows with the war, leaders of the countries should really consider and make a wise decision before going to a war.
Other than war, the...