Question

The U.S. national debt was $2.9617×10^13 in 2021 and 3.98 x 10^11 in 1971 find the decrease in the 50 year period

Answer 1

To find the decrease in the U.S. national debt from 1971 to 2021, we first interpret the numbers you've provided. However, there seems to be a mistake with the format of the national debt values for 1971. Given that the U.S. national debt in 1971 is generally known to be in the trillions (around $400 billion), it is likely that you meant to write \(3.98 \times 10^{11}\) as \(3.98 \times 10^{12}\), which is equal to $3.98 trillion.

Let's clarify the amounts:

- National debt in 2021: \(2.9617 \times 10^{13}\) = $29.617 trillion
- National debt in 1971: \(3.98 \times 10^{12}\) = $3.98 trillion

Now, we can calculate the difference:

\[
\text{Decrease in national debt} = \text{Debt in 2021} - \text{Debt in 1971}
\]
\[
\text{Decrease} = (2.9617 \times 10^{13}) - (3.98 \times 10^{12})
\]

Converting the second term to the same order of magnitude:

\[
3.98 \times 10^{12} = 0.398 \times 10^{13}
\]

Now subtract:

\[
\text{Decrease} = 2.9617 \times 10^{13} - 0.398 \times 10^{13} = (2.9617 - 0.398) \times 10^{13} = 2.5637 \times 10^{13}
\]

Thus, the decrease in the U.S. national debt over the 50-year period from 1971 to 2021 is:

\[
\text{Decrease} = 2.5637 \times 10^{13} \text{ dollars} = 25.637 \text{ trillion dollars}
\]

This indicates that the national debt actually increased over this period rather than decreased. The 50-year span resulted in an increase of approximately $25.637 trillion.