$120 trillion: The shocking true size of our nation’s debt

The Congressional Budget Office released a new report this week showing that the federal government’s publicly held debt would top 101% of GDP by 2021, more than the value of everything produced in this country over the course of a year. Think of it like owing more on your credit cards than your entire family income. By 2035, the publicly held debt, CBO says, could top an almost unfathomable 190% of GDP.

And that was the good news.

Add it all up, and total US debt actually exceeds 900% of GDP. That’s somewhere in excess of $120 trillion.