Reading path · 16 stops · 96 min of reading · 3 tools and data pages
Money and the economy.
What you'll learnThe debt, interest, taxes, Social Security, banks and rent, each answered short first with official numbers.
The path, in order
Topics: Economics. Ticks show what you have read in this browser.
- Explainer · 9 minWho owns the US national debt?
Mostly Americans. The US owed $40.4 trillion on October 22, 2026. About 46% ($18.7 trillion) is held by Americans outside the federal government: mutual and money market funds, banks, pension funds, insurers, state and...
- Explainer · 5 minHow do interest rates affect the national debt?
Interest rates set the price of the national debt. When rates are low, the government can borrow trillions and the interest bill barely moves; when rates rise, every bond that comes due is refinanced at the higher rate...
- Explainer · 8 minWhat happens if China sells its US Treasuries?
It is already happening, slowly, and the US has absorbed it. China held $1,316.7 billion of US Treasuries at its peak in November 2013 and $590.7 billion in August 2026: a cut of $726 billion (55%). During its fastest...
- DataWhat does the US national debt look like in $100 bills?
The US national debt ($40.44 trillion on Oct 22, 2026) in $100 bills: 404,443 metric tons (445,823 US tons), 456,706 m³ (16,128,403 cu ft), a stack 44,173 km tall. Pictured to scale.
- Article · 12 minBonds just broke 2007's peak. AI is this cycle's housing boom
AI bubble vs 2008: the 10-year Treasury topped its 2007 peak, tech capex hit a record 5.05% of GDP. 10 indicators, 2007 vs now, with free data.
- Explainer · 6 minWhat happened to banks after 2008?
After the 2008 crash, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act (2010), which created a consumer finance watchdog, banned most bank betting with their own money and forced big banks through yearly stress tests. Banks paid tens...
- Article · 7 minBoomers, debt and asset prices: is the market playing hot potato?
Boomers own 52.5% of US household wealth but owe 20.8% of the debt; millennials owe 42.6%. Fed data, the AI circular deals and the hot potato thesis, tested.
- Explainer · 6 minWhat percent of federal income tax does the bottom 50% pay?
The bottom 50% of taxpayers paid about 3.3% of all federal income tax in tax year 2023, roughly $70 billion out of $2.14 trillion, while earning 12.3% of the income. But income tax is not the only tax: the same people...
- Explainer · 6 minDid the government take money from Social Security and not pay it back?
No, not in the way the claim usually goes. There is no record of the military, or anyone, taking trillions from Social Security and not paying it back. For decades Social Security collected more than it paid out, and by...
- Article · 8 minNew apartments cut local rent: what happens when supply finally arrives
One block went from $3,500 to $1,650 for the cheapest apartment after new construction. The research, the national data and Austin, with a free CSV.
- Explainer · 4 minDoes building more housing lower rent?
Yes. New apartments lower rent, including for people who could never afford the new units. Studies find rents within about two blocks of a big new building fall roughly 5 to 7% compared with similar blocks, and every...
- Explainer · 4 minCan the president lower rent prices?
Not directly. No federal law sets private rents, and the president cannot pass one alone. The levers that set rent, zoning, permits and rent rules, belong to states and cities, and 32 states ban local rent control...
- Article · 13 minProp 40 priced: 223 billionaires, $90B on paper, Zuckerberg $11B
We priced every Forbes California billionaire for Prop 40: $90B on paper, Zuckerberg $11B, $744B moved off the list. 70 Forbes snapshots, free CSV.
- Explainer · 8 minProp 40 explained: what California's billionaire tax actually does
Prop 40 is a one-time California tax of 5% of net worth on billionaires who were California residents on January 1, 2026. Wealth is valued on December 31, 2026, the bill is due in 2027 (or in five yearly payments with a...
- DataWhat money looks like in cash.
What $1 million, $1 billion, $1 trillion and the US national debt look like in $100 and $1 bills, drawn to scale next to a person. Weight, volume, height.
- Free toolMoney size calculator
Any amount as a pile of $100 or $1 bills next to a person: weight, volume, height.
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