Determine how much each person in the United States owes. Round your answer to the nearest $100.

Question

In your Economics course you learned that as of August 2017, the national debt was about 19.9 trillion dollars, and there were about 326 million people in the United States. The national debt is not just an abstract figure. The American people actually owe it. Determine how much each person in the United States owes. Round your answer to the nearest $100. Express your numbers in scientific notation while doing your calculation. ________________

Answer 1

While you may compute the average share of national debt per person, it is not technically correct, from my standpoint, that I owe that amount.  I've been urging politicians to align outflow with intake  for many years. The recently highly touted Trump tax reform is irresponsible,  inasmuch as it widens the gap (increases national debt).

 

That is not the only thing wrong with the current administration, of course.

 

To answer this question (accepting it at face value), divide 19.9X10¹² by 3.26X10⁸