Mr. Obama’s budget projects that 2011 will see the biggest one-year debt jump in history, or nearly $2 trillion, to reach $15.476 trillion by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. That would be 103.6 percent of GDP — the first time since World War II that dubious figure has been reached.
Furthermore, the government’s 2010 deficit reached $1.645 trillion, $230 billion more than that of 2009. To emphasize just how staggering these figures are, note that the deficit in 2007 was a "mere" $160 billion.
As noted by economists Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff, when a nation’s gross debt passes 90 percent of GDP, it negatively impacts the country’s overall economic growth.
According to the Washington Times, government measures debt in a variety of ways:
Debt held by the public includes the money borrowed from Social Security’s trust fund. Actual debt held by the public will reach 72 percent of GDP in 2011 and will climb as the Social Security trust fund’s finances continue to deteriorate.
