Hidden debt crisis: off books, off balance.

• Author: Doherty, Brian
• Position: Citings - US national debt - Brief article

The official U.S. debt has exploded in recent years, from $5 trillion in 2007 to an estimated $12 trillion by the end of 2013. Potentially worse for the U.S. economy, though, are future obligations that are not part of the official debt count. According to a new National Bureau of Economic Research study by James D. Hamilton, an economist from the University of California, San Diego, these so-called "off-balance-sheet" commitments amounted to $70 trillion in 2012--six times the size of the official debt.

Included in that potentially crippling number are government programs supporting or guaranteeing housing, education loans, bank deposit insurance, Federal Reserve holdings, Social Security and Medicare promises, and civil service and military retirement obligations. (Hamilton specifically excludes private...