Federal Debt per Capita

Think of it this way

It is the credit card balance divided among the people who live in the house.

What is Federal Debt per Capita?

Outstanding Treasury debt divided by the number of inhabitants. It is not a bill anyone is going to pay all at once: it is a way of sizing up a balance that, in absolute figures, means nothing to anyone.

How to read Federal Debt per Capita

It almost always rises, and for two reasons at once: because more debt is issued and because the population grows more slowly than the debt. The slope dates the accelerations better than the absolute balance does.

What Federal Debt per Capita means for the market

It is the same data as total debt, on a scale that makes sense. Its limitation is that it does not adjust for inflation or income: the measure analysts use to judge sustainability is debt to GDP, because GDP is what pays the debt and the headcount is not.

Where the money flows

Money leaves the Treasury toward people —payrolls, pensions, healthcare, interest— and returns through taxes. This series divides those two streams by the number of inhabitants so they can be compared with a salary. What taxes do not cover is covered by issuing debt, so the gap between the two lines is exactly what the Treasury has to place on the market each month.

What to watch in Federal Debt per Capita

Its slope is the other chart's deficit, accumulated. If the gap there does not close, this line cannot stop rising.

Total Treasury debt divided among the population.