The U.S. national debt currently exceeds $36 trillion. That number is too large to feel real. So let's make it real: there are approximately 131 million households in the United States. Divide the debt evenly and each household's share is roughly $274,000. That's more than the median home price in most of the country.
Why the debt erodes your purchasing power
Government debt doesn't stay in an abstract ledger. It has to be serviced — interest payments must be made. In fiscal year 2025, the U.S. government is spending over $1 trillion per year on interest alone. That's more than the defense budget. That money comes from taxes and from printing more money — both of which reduce your purchasing power.
When the government borrows $6 billion per day and the Federal Reserve accommodates that borrowing by expanding the money supply, every dollar you hold gets diluted. The national debt isn't just a fiscal policy issue — it's a direct driver of the M2 expansion that erodes your salary's buying power.
The compounding trap
Debt compounds. At current interest rates, the government is paying roughly 3.2% average interest on its outstanding debt. As older, lower-rate bonds mature and are refinanced at today's higher rates, the interest burden grows even if no new debt is added. This creates a fiscal spiral: more interest requires more borrowing, which increases the debt, which increases future interest payments.
For your household, this means the pressure on the money supply is structural, not temporary. Even if the government balanced its budget tomorrow (which no serious observer expects), the existing debt would continue generating interest payments that strain the fiscal system for decades.
What this means for your paycheck
The national debt affects your purchasing power through two channels. First, the taxes required to service it take directly from your income — a growing share of federal revenue goes to interest payments rather than services. Second, the monetary expansion required to sustain the debt dilutes every dollar you earn.
The Debase Brief tracks daily Treasury borrowing alongside M2 and CPI. When the government borrows $6 billion in a day, we report it — because every dollar borrowed is a dollar that eventually dilutes yours.
You can't control federal spending. But you can understand how it affects your money. See what your salary is actually worth after the combined effects of money supply expansion.