The national debt - aka the federal debt - is the total of all the past years' budget deficits, minus what the government has paid off with budget surpluses. read more
The national debt of the United States is the public debt carried by the federal government of the United States, which is measured as the face value of the currently outstanding Treasury securities that have been issued by the Treasury and other federal government agencies. read more
The term national debt refers to direct liabilities of the United States Government. There are several different concepts of debt that are at various times used to refer to the national debt: Public debt is defined as public debt securities issued by the U.S. Treasury. read more