US Debt and Deficits Since 1792

Darken the city, night is a wire
Steam in the subway, earth is afire
--Duran Duran

Nice graph showing federal government deficits and debt since the country's inception.

The story is the tale of two periods. The first period from 1792-1913 is characterized by declining debt levels (debt largely related to war) and prolonged periods of federal surpluses. There was actually a 20-30 year period of no federal debt following the payoff of Revolutionary/1812 war debt.

The second period, 1913-present, is characterized by rising debt and prolonged periods of federal deficits. Unlike the first period, where spikes in war debt were followed by concerted efforts to extinguish the debt, the second period shows increases in peacetime debt and deficits (New Deal and since 1970s in particular).

As labeled, 1913 corresponds to the founding of the Federal Reserve. It also corresponds to the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment permitted the federal government to tax individual incomes. These two events have been the Great Enablers, as they have provided the federal government with vast access to economic resources.

The vast warfare and welfare states fed by these resources have an insatiable appetite.