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Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life

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More or Less: US national debt: Is $32 trillion a big number?

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US National Debt: is $32 trillion a big number?

24/06/2023 GMT

US national debt: Is $32 trillion a big number?

BBC World Service - More or Less, US national debt: Is $32 trillion a big number?

How concerned should we be about how much the US government borrows?

The level of US government debt has just surpassed 32 trillion dollars. Negotiations over raising the borrowing limit once again went down to the wire a few weeks ago. But how concerned should we all be about how much the US government borrows? We investigate with the help of Kent Smetters, professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Betsey Stevenson, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald
Producer: Jon Bithrey
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound engineer: Graham Puddifoot

(Photo: View of the US National Debt Clock in midtown Manhattan, New York City. Credit: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez /Getty Images)

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