Question

Assume a government starts with zero debt. This government then runs an annual deficit for 9 years of $1,504. At the end of those 9 years, what would be amount of the government debt? Please round to 2 decimal places if needed. Be sure to include a negative sign (-) if it is a decrease and do not include a dollar sign ($) when answering,

Answer 1

The total government debt after running an annual deficit of 1,504 for 9 years would be -13,536. The calculation is made by multiplying the annual deficit by the number of years, and debt is represented as a negative number since it is an amount owed.

Step-by-step explanation:

If a government starts with zero debt and runs an annual deficit for 9 years of 1,504, the calculation of the total government debt at the end of those 9 years is straightforward.

We simply need to multiply the annual deficit by the number of years to get the total debt accumulated over that period.

To do this, use the formula total debt = annual deficit × number of years. Plugging in the values we get, total debt = 1,504 × 9. This equals 13,536.

Since we are considering a debt, the value should be reflected as a negative number, because debt represents an amount that the government owes. Therefore, the answer is -13,536 (without including a dollar sign, as requested).