Reaching the Debt Limit: Background and Potential Effects on Government Operations

Levit, Mindy R. ; Brass, Clinton T. ; Nicola, Thomas J. ; Nuschler, Dawn ; Shelton, Alison M.

Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service.

关键词: Federal debt;    Public debt;    Budget deficits;    Deficit reduction;    Deficit financing;   

RP-ID  :  R41633
RP-ID  :  R41633_2012May31

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

The gross federal debt, which represents the federal government's total outstanding debt, consists of two types of debt: (1) debt held by the public and (2) debt held in government accounts, also known as intragovernmental debt. Federal government borrowing increases for two primary reasons: (1) budget deficits and (2) investments of any federal government account surpluses in Treasury securities, as required by law. Nearly all of this debt is subject to the statutory limit. The federal debt limit currently stands at $14,294 billion.