Federal Debt per Capita Project-
In this project you will analyze the federal debt over time. You can use the table provided as a guide for the required values you will find through research and for the required values you will calculate. There are several websites which provide the federal debt over time, and you can also easily use the internet to find the US population for the years provided in the table.
a. For each of the years, calculate the federal debt per capita.
b. Using the 1980 debt per capita as the baseline, determine the expected debt per capita for the years 1990, 2000, and 2010 adjusted for inflation. Remember, you are solving equal proportions using the CPI.
c. BONUS: Create an Excel spreadsheet of the following table and use Excel functions to make the calculations. You will still need to use the CPI table for the indexes for the years provided.
| Year |
Federal Debt |
Population |
Federal Debt per Capita |
Expected Debt per Capita using CPI |
| 1980 |
|
|
|
Baseline |
| 1990 |
|
|
|
|
| 2000 |
|
|
|
|
| 2010 |
|
|
|
|
Write at least three paragraphs using the data you researched and using your calculations. Be sure to include the following in your written work:
1. Write a comparative sentence which includes the federal debt for 1980 and for 2010.
2. Write a statement about the US population growth over the time period represented.
3. Use the debt per capita for 2010 in a meaningful sentence.
4. Answer the question: "How much has the federal debt per capita increased since 1980?"
5. Use the 2010 expected debt per capita using CPI in a meaningful sentence.
6. Provide at least one statement which compares the debt per capita to the expected value due to inflation for 1990, 2000, and 2010.
7. Make a statement about what this information tells you.