US Meat Consumption per Person vs US Federal Debt Outstanding

US Meat Consumption per Person and US Federal Debt Outstanding correlate at r = +0.60 over 63 years (1961–2023), p < 0.0001. With the time trend removed, r = -0.66. Direction flips without the trend.

Verdict: Direction flips without the trend. The raw correlation is 0.60, but once each series' time trend is removed it becomes -0.66. The year-to-year movements run the opposite way to the long-run trends, so the headline number is misleading.

Pearson r: +0.60
p-value: < 0.0001
Years compared (n): 63 (1961–2023)
95% confidence interval: 0.41 to 0.74
Correlation with the time trend removed: -0.66

Sources

US Meat Consumption per Person (kg/year): Our World in Data. US Meat Consumption per Person (Our World in Data: Per capita consumption of meat).
US Federal Debt Outstanding (USD): U.S. Treasury. Total US federal debt outstanding at the end of each fiscal year (U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data).

Related pairs

US Renewable Energy Share vs US Federal Debt Outstanding (r = +0.99)
US Wind Power Generation vs US Federal Debt Outstanding (r = +0.99)
US Federal Debt Outstanding vs US GDP (current US$) (r = +0.97)
US Federal Debt Outstanding vs US GDP per Capita (r = +0.95)
Atmospheric Methane (global) vs US Federal Debt Outstanding (r = +0.95)
US Natural Gas Consumption vs US Federal Debt Outstanding (r = +0.94)

Correlation does not imply causation. How the verdict is worked out.