"Surpassing $39 trillion in gross debt is an embarrassing milestone that both parties have helped build over decades, and neither seems particularly interested in addressing it before we hit $40 trillion."
"The debt stood at $38 trillion as recently as October of last year - meaning Washington added a full $1 trillion in gross debt in less than six months. Debt held by the public, the measure most closely tracked by economists, has separately surpassed $31 trillion for the first time."
"Annual deficits are approaching $2 trillion, and deficits as a share of the economy are running at roughly twice the 3%-of-GDP target that economists and bipartisan policymakers have long identified as a sustainable benchmark."
The United States' gross national debt surpassed $39 trillion, adding $1 trillion in less than six months since October. Debt held by the public separately exceeded $31 trillion for the first time. Annual deficits approach $2 trillion, running at roughly twice the sustainable 3%-of-GDP benchmark economists recommend. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget characterizes this as an embarrassing milestone built by both Republicans and Democrats over decades, with neither party showing interest in addressing the problem before reaching $40 trillion. Current economic pressures, including potential gas tax holidays and executive tax cuts, threaten to further increase deficits and debt levels.
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]