Economists Hanke and Walker cite Treasury data showing $41.7T negative balance sheet

In a March 23 op-ed published in Fortune, economists Steve Hanke and David Walker cited the Treasury Department’s own FY 2025 consolidated financial statements to argue that the United States federal government is, by any standard accounting definition, insolvent. The figures they leaned on: $6.06 trillion in assets against $47.78 trillion in liabilities as of September 30, 2025, producing a negative balance-sheet position of $41.72 trillion. What the balance sheet actually shows The Treasury publishes an annual consolidated financial report that tallies the federal government’s assets and liabilities the same way a corporation would. The FY 2025 edition shows the government owes far more than it formally owns, a situation that has persisted for every single year the report has been published, going back to 1997. The Government Accountability Office has issued a disclaimer of opinion on those statements for 29 consecutive years, largely because the Department of Defense cannot pass a clean audit. A disclaimer of opinion, in plain accounting terms, means the auditor could not gather enough evidence to form a conclusion either way. The more jaw-dropping figure sits off the balance sh...