If you were ever in doubt about the unhealthy conditions of the federal government’s balance sheet, one look at the brilliant analysis by economist Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University will quickly disabuse you of your doubts.

Rugy pointed out via a compelling and frightening chart just how in the red the United States’ end-of-year net position has become. In essence, net position is a metric calculated by netting the government’s assets against its liabilities, as recorded in the United States Government Balance Sheet. Just like the financial statement of any company, net position gives us a general picture of the fiscal health – or, in this case, extreme lack of health.

According to Rugy, the net position of the United States in 2009 was -$11.5 trillion; a 12% deterioration from 2008. Moreover, net position has been steadily declining since 2000. Rugy also pointed out that the declining numbers and the accompanying graphic, as bad as they are, don’t even depict how truly bad the situation is. That’s because the numbers don’t reflect exposures for future Medicare and Social Security expenditures, as these costs are not taken into account in the calculation of net position.

If you want to see for yourself just how unhealthy our net position has become, and/or if you want to arm yourself with the knowledge and economic insights of the great Veronique de Rugy, then I highly recommend that you go to the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.