Today, the national debt that Hamilton began with a bank loan of $19,608.81 is the largest single entry on any set of books in the world. The federal government pays $19,608.81 in interest on its current debt every 2.4 seconds.
What would Hamilton think of his creation today? He would surely be impressed with its sheer size, although he would note that relative to the American GDP, about $14 trillion, it is "not excessive." But he would, I suspect, not be happy with what borrowed money is being used for. Hamilton saw the debt as a powerful means of fighting wars, building infrastructure, and getting through economic bad times. For the last 30 years and more, however, the national debt has been increasingly used so that no one in Washington ever has to say no to anyone.
