Debt by Year Compared to Nominal GDP and Events End of Fiscal Year | Debt (in billions, rounded) | Debt-to-GDP Ratio | Major Events by Presidential Term | 1929 | $17 | 16% | Market crash | 1941 | $49 | 38% | U.S. entered WWII | 1945 | $259 | 114% | WWII ended | 2007 | $9,008 | 62% | Bank crisis | 2012 | $16,066 | 99% | Fiscal cliff | 2014 | $17,824 | 102% | QE ended, debt ceiling crisis | 2015 | $18,151 | 100% | Oil prices fell | 2016 | $19,573 | 104% | Brexit | 2017 | $20,245 | 104% | Congress raised the debt ceiling | 2018 | $21,516 | 104% | Trump tax cuts | 2019 | $22,719 | 106% | Trade wars | 2020 | $26,477 (at end of Q2) | 136% | COVID-19 & CARES Act |
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