U.S. Federal Debt The federal debt is the total amount of money owed by the U.S. federal g...

U.S. Federal Debt The federal debt is the total amount of money owed by the U.S. federal government. Figure 4 shows the graph of the federal debt in trillions of dollars for the years 1940 to 2004 (with projections for the year 2006). Trace the graph onto another sheet of paper and draw the tangent line at the point corresponding to the year 1990. Use the tangent line to approximate the annual rate of increase of the federal debt in 1990.

Figure 4 U.S. federal debt.