The staggering U.S. debt

The federal government's finances are in worse shape than its annual budgets show, because the government is not required to state its long-term obligations, which work out be about $455,000 for every household in the nation.

Breaking down the numbers

Current liability:

Social Security: $6.7 trillion

Medicare: $34.1 trillion

Total long-term government liability: $53 trillion

Source: Government Accountability Office, Long-term Fiscal Outlook, Jan. 2008

Where it goes
U.S. debt held by foreigners as of mid-2007:

-- Foreign holdings of U.S. equities: $5 trillion

-- Foreign holdings of U.S. corporate bonds: $3 trillion

-- Foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury securities: $2 trillion

-- Foreign share of U.S. Treasury securities: 45 percent.

Source: UC Berkeley economists Ashok Bardhan and Dwight Jaffee, YaleGlobal online, April 2008