How much of the national debt do you owe?

This transcript is automatically generated

We're talking taxes here but it's all coming down -- spending as wells was Capitol Hill continues to wrestle with.

The White House over what to -- and where and how much you have to understand that this back and forth is really tiny.

When you look at the the fiscal hole the nation is really face.

Have you ever wondered how much of the national debt you in your family oh.

We take a look at some staggering numbers tonight in part two of our series the cost of spend.

The national debt clock spinning faster every year.

We've all seen it before -- up there.

Sixteen trillion dollars -- that.

Uses a prospect campaign events when this campaign I can it was a heck yeah that you can walk by the main debt clock in New York City.

West 44 street and avenue of the Americas.

When you really stop and look at it for -- Maybe even stare at it.

Frankly it's scary.

As of today every household in United States owes about 140000.

Dollars of this debt every single household.

The US borrows roughly six billion dollars every day.

The country's borrowing 239.

Million dollars each hour that's more million dollars borrowed every minute.

So in just the times since this -- started.

The US has already borrowed another four million bucks.

This year for every one dollar and revenues the federal government broad in -- spent two dollars and six cents.

Now just to be clear when the US spends more than it brings in -- a year he runs a deficit.

A deficit is a one year shortfall that has to be made up by borrowing.

The national debt or total accumulated debt is the sum of all the annual deficits.

Less any surpluses.

It's the running tally.

We hear politicians talk about deficits and the debt all the time -- deficit debt deficit.

How to get politicians to come to some agreement to get the debt clock to slow down or -- back the other way continues to be the challenge.

But first where we've been.

Let's take a look at a debt through history on the amount we know has ebbed and flowed our country's habit of spending more than it takes him.

Is nothing new while we're currently at the highest level of -- our country has ever seen.

1835.

Saw the lowest recorded debt at just 34000.

Dollars under president Andrew Jackson.

It was an unsuccessful assassination attempt on him that year.

In 1865.

A president that didn't perish from session attacked president Abraham Lincoln.

Oversaw a debt of three billion dollars fast forward to black Tuesday in 1929.

The most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States our national debt rose to seventeen billion dollars then.

Then came World War II a very expensive one.

And by 1945.

Are dead had ballooned to 259.

Billion a quarter of a trillion dollars.

Then two more recent times the 2008 financial crisis the amount of our debt our country held crossed the ten trillion dollar figure for the first time.

And it has continued to rise.

Which leads us to where we are now.

More than sixteen trillion dollars in the hole and --

Economist Robert -- author of the book classical economic principles and the wealth of nations.

Believes history shows that when government spending increase is much faster than spending in the overall economy.

The private sector and the economy overall suffers from 1945 to 1947.

That was a huge cut in government spending because of the winding down for more war to.

And the people who thought the government spending was holding the economy -- for all predicting a major depression.

At that time what happened was for the first time in 1516.

Years there's a huge increase in private spending.

On goods and services per person -- 25%.

Increase in those two years.

What was happening was that was a substitute.

With government spending coming down that was -- money more resource is available for private spending to go up.

As that was the real recovery the recovery wasn't more -- to.

When we were fighting for our survival and spending money to ensure that survival real recovery came after World War II.

Bill Clinton's budget director Alice Rivlin many people.

So you have to be very specific about this.

The driving force for additional government spending.

Is not discretionary spending it's is coming tsunami of older people -- we have to cope with.

And yes we expects Medicare spending.

To grow.

It can and the question is does it have to grow that fast and I don't think it does.

John Taylor Stanford economist and author of the book first principles five keys to restoring America's prosperity.

Says because of interest time is running out to deal with the debt and deficits lots of people that will.

Lend to us so far as long as.

Project doesn't get so large -- become suspicious that will pay it back just like also -- interview run up.

Debt whether it's consumer -- you have to pay interest and so does the federal government right now interest rates.

Are relatively low but -- bound to blow up in the future and so that will make our interest payments.

Much higher and if if we don't correct this problem interest.

But -- the dominate our whole spending greater than.

Defense vs security we have an issue to guide us when debt gets too high.

People are skeptical about lending and and you -- to a crisis like we've seen Greece.

In many other countries.

So that it's dangerous when it gets to -- and open -- moving close -- that dangerous level.

Every day.

Tomorrow in our series how Washington cuts spending and later in the week how the Federal Reserve factors and all of this.

Source: http://video.foxnews.com/v/2044160249001/how-much-of-the-national-debt-do-you-owe/

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