Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for May 6, 2020
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
May 6, 2020: As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government expects to borrow an unprecedented $3 trillion between April and June this year.[1]
To put that number into perspective, that’s far more than the federal government has ever borrowed before in a full year. The all-time high level of borrowing for a year was reached in the midst of the financial crisis during 2009. In that year, the government borrowed a total of $1.8 trillion (60% of what it will borrow in the current three-month period).[1]
The only relatively comparable expansion of federal debt took place in World War II. At the end of that global battle, the federal debt was more than double the nation’s annual income.[2] For decades, the relative debt was then trimmed to reach just over 30% of the national income by the 1970s and early 1980s.[3]
Since then, the federal debt has grown steadily. In 2013, the amount owed exceeded the nation’s aggregate income for the first time since shortly after World War II.[3]
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.
- May 5, 2020 –49% of voters now worry more about economic threat of coronavirus than health threat
- May 4, 2020 –36% of voters would report their neighbor for violating stay-at-home rules
- May 1, 2020 –23 states have modified voting by mail procedures
- April 30, 2020 –70% of voters want reduced trade with China
- April 29, 2020 –33% of voters believe government has not gone far enough in pandemic response
- To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day is published by Ballotpedia weekdays at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Click here to check out the latest update.
The Number of the Day is broadcast on local stations across the country. An archive of these broadcasts can be found here.
Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
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See also
- Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day
- Documenting America's Path to Recovery
- Federal government responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020-2021
- Resources for citizens dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, 2020
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 MarketWatch, "The U.S. Treasury plans to borrow a record $3 trillion in the second quarter for coronavirus relief — already the largest-ever borrowing for any full fiscal year," May 4, 2020
- ↑ Bloomberg, "U.S. Debt to Surge Past Wartime Record, Deficit to Quadruple," April 21, 2020
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, "Federal Debt: Total Public Debt as Percent of Gross Domestic Product," accessed May 5, 2020
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