On the recordMarch 11, 1996
a vast percentage of Americans don't have the slightest idea about the enormity of the Federal debt. Ever so often, I ask groups of friends: How many millions of dollars are there in a trillion? They think about it, voice some estimates, most of them wrong. One thing that they do know is that it is the U.S. Congress that ran up the enormous Federal debt that now exceeds $5 trillion. To be exact, as of the close of business Friday, March 8, the total Federal debt stood at $5,017,686,664,137.86. On a per capita basis, every man, woman, and child in America owes $19,045.56 of this debt.
Source
govinfo.gov
