U.S. government liabilities now top $50 trillion

Think your car and mortgage payments are rough? Take a gander at this from the Office of the Treasury’s Financial Report of the United States Government:

Despite improvement in both the fiscal year 2006 reported net operating cost and the cash-based budget deficit, the U.S. government’s total reported liabilities, net social insurance commitments, and other fiscal exposures continue to grow and now total approximately $50 trillion, representing approximately four times the Nation’s total output (GDP) in fiscal year 2006, up from about $20 trillion, or two times GDP in fiscal year 2000. […]

This translates into a current burden of about $170,000 per American or approximately $440,000 per American household.

That’s trillion, with a “t”.

The outlook will only get worse as more baby-boomers retire and the costs of social services really begin to kick in. To avoid national sticker shock, the GAO wants the U.S. government to begin issuing an annual report:

To better inform both Congress and American citizens about the federal government’s fiscal condition and operations, the federal government should produce an easily understandable summary annual report that includes, in a clear, concise, and transparent manner, key financial and performance information embodied in the Financial Report of the United States Government. This report would include, among other things, illustrative graphs and charts depicting such information as (1) the cost of the federal government as a whole and for each major component such as defense and homeland security, (2) the primary components of federal revenues, and (3) various other current financial and future fiscal information.

(Hat tip: The End of Money)