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KSNF\/KODE<\/a>\u2014 With the U.S. less than a week away from hitting its debt limit, lawmakers have to decide whether to raise the debt ceiling (the total amount of money that the United States government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations) or risk defaulting\u2013which happens when a country\u2019s government cannot pay its debt or is unwilling to pay it. <\/p>\n The National debt is the total amount the U.S. has accumulated over the entirety of the nation\u2019s history. It sits at just over $31,300,000,000,000. That\u2019s $31-TRILLION<\/em> dollars. Imagine getting paid $1 million every single day for 3,000 years\u2014that equals $1-Trillion. Now imagine that 31 more times\u2014it\u2019s colossal and hard to imagine. Needless to say, tackling that kind of debt is a long and complicated road. <\/p>\n According to the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve<\/a>, over 36 countries own part of the national debt. According to the U.S Treasury and Statista<\/a>, the top 10 major foreign holders of the U.S. Treasury Securities are as follows: <\/p>\n You can view the full reports at the links highlighted above. <\/p>\n Needless to say, it\u2019s complicated and involves a whole lot of zeros. But officials are taking steps to get ahead of a potential disaster. Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen wrote a letter informing and urging lawmakers of the situation at hand. You can read it here<\/a>. <\/p>\n When financial experts talk about the \u201cglobal economy\u201d they understand what that definition means with respect to this debt. Every country depends on the other to keep the world\u2019s economies churning. <\/p>\n\n