What is our U.S. publicly held federal debt?

Enlarged version of the INFOGRAPHIC: bit.ly/10K319W

Did you guess $16.2 trillion? Our *gross* national debt is, in fact, over $16 trillion. About $11.3 trillion of that is debt held by the public. The other $5 trillion is intragovernmental debt, which includes non-marketable securities such as the Social Security Trust Fund. When you see debt-to-GDP ratios for different countries, that ratio is referencing publicly held debt, not gross debt. 
 "What the heck's the debt got to do with me?" Many people are aware the federal debt is a major issue, but have a hard time understanding how it could directly affect them. We have the right to know what's at stake if our country does not eventually address the growing federal debt, once the economy has recovered. Check out an enlarged version of the INFOGRAPHIC here: bit.ly/10K319W