As of January 2, 2026, the official debt of the federal government was $38.4 trillion. This amounts to $285,057 for every household in the U.S., $112,002 for every person living in the country, 127% of annual U.S. economic output (GDP), 6.9 times annual federal revenues, and 88% more than the combined consumer debt of every household in the nation. Regardless of how much taxes people pay, almost everyone suffers the ill-effects of government debt. This is because it is rarely paid off but manifests in the form of lower wages, inflation, weak economic growth, and combinations of such results. Since government debt hurts people through economic mechanisms that are not obvious to them, voters seldom hold politicians accountable for running up debt. Hence, the harmful effects continue.