Some Americans have always taken the national debt personally. During the 1940 census (according to the late David McCord Wright, an American economist) a housewife was asked if she had a mortgage on her home. "Yes," she replied. "For $40 billion."rnThat figure (about 40% of 1940 gdp) now seems quaint. The federal debt held by the public was $8.9 trillion in August 2010, or about 60% of gdp. Add to that the Treasury debt held by America's public-pension scheme, and the national debt reached $10 trillion back in September 2008.
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