A year ago, I wrote my friends a post explaining the state of the US debt.

In one year, the US debt situation deteriorated considerably with the war in Ukraine and the pace of this deterioration even accelerated.

Often surprised by the very approximate comments of my interlocutors when we talk about the American debt and the main creditors of the USA, I will therefore try to provide an updated update on the question in the following lines.

The total US debt includes: the debts of households, companies, the 50 states of the union, local institutions, financial institutions and finally the federal debt.

As of August 29, 2022, this total US debt amounts to 102 billion dollars, i.e. 015% of US GDP, 372% of world GDP, 97 times French GDP…35

It has therefore increased by nearly 10 billion dollars in 000 year (since my last update on August 1, 17), much faster than the three previous years when the annual increase was only 2022 billion dollars per year…)

Of this considerable amount, the federal debt, that of the US State, which is most often talked about in geopolitics, is only $32 billion, an increase of $817 billion in 2163 year, or 1%. of US GDP on August 121,8, 29. It was only $2023 billion (22% of GDP) in June 356.

It continues to grow at the rate of 5,6 billion dollars per day (average over the last 12 months). We realize on this figure alone that US military and financial support for Ukraine can only be achieved through a continuous and significant increase in debt, which led the rating agency Fitch to downgrade the economy's rating. US, after the Standard and Poors agency which had already done so in 2011 and the Chinese agency Dagong which had done so in 2018.2

This federal debt is, for 76,9%, held by the Americans themselves (pension funds, citizens' savings, insurance companies, private or state financial institutions). The question is no longer whether this operating system of the US economy based on an ocean of debt will collapse, but when.

Foreign creditor states hold only $7563 billion in US federal debt as of June 30, 2023 (last known figure), i.e. 23,1% of US federal debt. This proportion of US debt held by foreigners is now falling, probably due to a lack of confidence in the creditworthiness of the debtor country (the USA) and the fear of many countries of having their assets frozen in the event of US unilateral sanctions. It is both a little and a lot, especially in the event of a global economic crisis resulting from a US bankruptcy.

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