I can't get my head around $14,000,000,000,000. But $45,300 per person I can understand.
Of course people aren't being asked to repay this now, just service the interest on it. And at the moment the interest rate (bond yields) is quite low, under 3%. So the interest is something like $1,350pa. This is a lot of tax to pay for no actual benefit, but it is possible to pay it.
But the US has two problems. The first is that the debt has doubled in the last six years and is still going up. So by 2017 the interest payments alone might be $2,700pp. Ouch. Remember this is pp, including children, the retired. But even this is payable. The second problem kicks in if the markets decide there is a risk (however small) that one day the USA will not be able to service its debt. Greece and Ireland have seen bond yields around four times the US levels. So overnight the interest payment per person could go up from a present $1,350 to over $5,000 - or with increased debt to over $10,000. Suddenly this country is in a position where no-one believes the tax payers can pay the burden imposed, everyone believes the debts won't be repaid and the economy goes into a death spiral. Nations like Greece and Ireland can call in a bailout - but there is no-one big enough to bail out the US.
The worry is that the process is market driven, not politician driven.
