Ask David M. Walker, the Comptroller General of the United States and head of GAO. Here’s what he said in a Dec 17, 2007 speech at the National Press Club:
“If the federal government was a private corporation and the same report came out this morning, our stock would be dropping and there would be talk about whether the company’s management and directors needed a major shake-up.” Walker urged greater transparency and accountability over the federal government’s operations, financial condition, and fiscal outlook . . .
“The federal government’s fiscal exposures totaled approximately $53 trillion as of September 30, 2007, up more than $2 trillion from September 30, 2006, and an increase of more than $32 trillion from about $20 trillion as of September 30, 2000,” Walker said. “This translates into a current burden of about $175,000 per American or approximately $455,000 per American household.”
[Emphasis Added].
A major reason why the U.S. dollar has plummeted in value is because of the huge debt burden facing Americans. As the debt burden goes up, America's credit rating goes down (just as it does for individuals), and the primary measure of America's credit rating is the value of the U.S. dollar.