How Much Do You Know about the National Debt?

An academic research project examining the National Debt and how much college students and professors know about it. The survey described in the video was conducted at Ouachita Baptist University.

Open Ended Responses:

"It scares me that we are basically owned by China. My fiscal future seems to have been decided for me a long time ago. People are spending my money before I even earn it."

"Our current spending levels are unsustainable and our national debt is crippling. We will eventually devalue our currency and there will be rampant inflation."

"We cannot spend our way out of debt. . . . With the way we are going now, we will only get into deeper debt and eventually bankrupt the country. It's common sense."

"It is one of the most urgent and pressing challenges on this nation, equivalent to the threat of terrorism, healthcare reform, or the economy. It is only growing larger and larger—a problem that we cannot ignore any longer."


Notes:

Slide 4:
This graph illustrates the dramatic fluctuations in the National Debt relative to GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Note in particular that, at present, the debt is rising almost as fast as it did during World War II.

Gross Domestic Product: "the total market values of goods and services produced by workers and capital within a nation's borders during a given period (usually 1 year)" WordNet Search - 3.0, Princeton University

Slide 5:
Source of this estimate of debt to GDP: Peter G. Peterson Foundation,
http://www.iousathemovie.com
Source of Thomas Jefferson quotes: The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia: A Comprehensive Collection of the Views of Thomas Jefferson

Slide 6:
Visit this link to see the survey: http://tinyurl.com/ntldebtsurvey

Slide 7:
If you have questions, please comment on this video or send me a private message via my channel.


Sources:

CircleAdrian. "File:US Federal Debt as Percent of GDP by President.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2010. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/b/b8/20100407060435%21U...

"Government - Debt to the Penny (Daily History Search Application)." TreasuryDirect. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2010. http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPD
Login?application=np .

I.O.U.S.A. Dir. Patrick Creadon. Perf. David Walker (Peter G. Peterson Foundation), Bob Bixby (Concord Coalition). Pbs (Direct), 2008. Web. http://www.iousathemovie.com .

Jefferson, Thomas, and John P. Foley. "The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia: A Comprehensive Collection of the Views of Thomas Jefferson." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZTIoAAAAYAAJ&dq=
The+honest+payment+of+our+debts+I+deem&source=gbs_navlinks_s

"MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF TREASURY SECURITIES." U.S. Department of the Treasury. Department of the Treasury/Federal Reserve Board, 15 Apr. 2010. Web. 23 Apr. 2010. www.ustreas.gov/tic/mfh.txt .

"WordNet Search - 3.0." WordNet Search - 3.0. Princeton University, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. http://www.wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=gdp&sub=Search+
WordNet&o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&h=0

Category:

Education

Tags:

• How
• Much
• Do
• You
• Know
• about
• the
• National
• Debt
• National Debt
• knowledge
• assessment
• research
• academic
• paper
• speech
• Ouachita
• Baptist
• University
• OBU

[sstoft]

Search for "$9 trillion national debt" and watch the top video. It will teach you the same thing and it's 100 times snappier.

[wacastervids]

@sstoft Thanks for the tip!

[someonedanya2011]

Some bullshit nothing is clear. Not deliberate dull

[FutureMoneyTrends]

Thanks for the post