The main point of this image is to shock Americans into thinking that we are in way too much debt. While running a long-term deficit is a problem (I think..) this image fails to consider a fairly obvious distinction between the US government and the average American: interest rates. The numbers displayed here would undoubetldy be a huge problem for the US if we were forced to pay back our debts at the average 15.9%. However, the US government is on much more favorable terms with our creditors who provide us with a slightly more workable 2.835% rate. So taking the $142,710 outstanding balance figure provided, the U.S. owes roughly $4,045 in interest per year out of $21,000 in income (a little less than 20%). If this situation were more similar to the average American household at 16% we would owe roughly $23,000 (a little more than 100%).
I personally think these numbers speak for themselves and that we should keep borrowing at low rates to finance productive projects within the US. If our creditors keep loaning to us at these rates, we should take advantage and leverage the returns of well-selected investments in growth.
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