US Debt Milestone Hits $34 Trillion for the First Time

For the first time in history, the national U.S. debt has soared past the $34 trillion mark. According to the latest data from the Treasury Department, this staggering figure was reached just last Friday. With this developing amount, it’s crucial to take a brief look at how things have evolved and where things might be going in the near future.

To understand how significant this milestone is, today’s debt can be compared back to what it was four decades ago. The national debt was a “mere” $907 billion back then. In the midst of this financial storm, Congress is scrambling to finalize crucial funding bills to avoid a government shutdown. However, this historic debt level casts a long shadow over their proceedings.

The future looks frighteningly uncertain from a financial perspective. Experts at the Congressional Budget Office predict that the national debt could nearly double in the next 30 years. By 2053, our debt could be a shocking 181% of everything our country produces (gross domestic product). It’ll be a debt problem like we’ve never seen before.

“Though our level of debt is dangerous for both our economy and for national security, America just cannot stop borrowing.”

Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, via Fox Business

On top of all this, interest rates are going up fast. This makes it even more expensive for the government to borrow money and adds to our debt problem. Interest payments are growing quicker than any other part of the federal budget and will keep doing so for the next 30 years. By 2032, payments could go from $475 billion to $1.4 trillion. Even worse, by 2053, we could be paying an unthinkable $5.4 trillion in interest.

To understand how big these amounts are, the money we’ll need to pay in interest on our debt could soon be more than what we spend on programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and all other spending programs combined.