TheSeventhFloor

What’s claimed. What’s delivered. Why they differ. Written and edited by students, measured against the record.

September 30, 2026 · A student journal of policy and institutions Edited from Pittsburgh, Washington, and the Bay Area

Forty trillion, and the decade it was supposed to shrink

“…the point at which publicly held debt is effectively eliminated.” (Alan Greenspan, January 2001) || CBO projected public debt nearly paid off by 2011. What arrived: three rounds of tax cuts, each later extended, two wars, two shocks, and an interest bill nobody voted for. || Edited by Kaz Rubel

   Line chart. Total federal debt rose from $5.8 trillion in 2001 to $40 trillion in August 2026, while CBO's January 2001 projection had debt held by the public falling to $0.8 trillion by 2
By Conner Baird

One Chart

Every One Chart
   Line chart. Total federal debt rose from $5.8 trillion in 2001 to $40 trillion in August 2026, while CBO's January 2001 projection had debt held by the public falling to $0.8 trillion by 2

Forty trillion, and the decade it was supposed to shrink

“…the point at which publicly held debt is effectively eliminated.” (Alan Greenspan, January 2001) || CBO projected public debt nearly paid off by 2011. What arrived: three rounds of tax cuts, each later extended, two wars, two shocks, and an interest bill nobody voted for. || Edited by Kaz Rubel

By · September 30

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Edited from Pittsburgh, Washington, and the Bay Area

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