The total U.S. government debt subject to the legally mandated limit has been unchanged for at least a month.  Some people believe that means Treasury is cooking the books.  I’m pretty sure these folks should worry about something else.  This brief article will discuss the current state of the government debt.

As far as I can tell, Treasury is engaging in normal portfolio reallocation as the debt nears the limit.  They are selling securities held by the government to the public.  This changes the composition of the portfolio, but does not change the total.  However, it does provide funds for the government to continue operations as those sales of intragovernmental holdings bring cash into the treasury.

The table below shows the July 26 figures.  I’ve added two rows that detail the changes from period to period.  Find something else to be concerned about, folks.