A Scaled Down Look at Spending, Revenue, and What's Being Cut

Understanding the Scale of Government Finances The national debt—currently at $36 trillion—is a number so large it's difficult to comprehend. Throughout this site, we've scaled down all government finances by a factor of 36 million to bring these enormous numbers into a range that's easier to grasp. Scaled Values Actual Values 👆 Try toggling between actual and scaled values 🏦 National Debt The total outstanding debt of the federal government 💰 Annual Revenue (2024) Money collected through taxes and other sources 💸 Annual Spending (2024) Government expenditure across all programs 📉 Annual Deficit (2024) The shortfall between revenue and spending each year Each year, the government spends more than it collects in revenue, creating an annual deficit. This deficit is added to the national debt, which continues to grow year after year. To put this in perspective: The cost just to service the debt—the interest payments alone—is $500 billion per year. This is money that doesn't fund a ... Read full article.