A Brief History of Public Debt

As of October 2022, the U.S. national debt stood at over $31 trillion. That amounts to nearly $90,000 of debt per citizen. But is there an upside to a government spending more than its tax revenues? How much should we worry about debt of this magnitude? Does history offer lessons for today? Barry Eichengreen joins EconoFact Chats to discuss these issues. Barry is the George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served as a senior policy advisor at the International Monetary Fund. His latest book is In Defense of Public Debt.