The U.S. Debt Just Hit $40 Trillion, Because Why Not?
The national debt meter finally flipped to a number that looks like a high-score in a video game gone wrong.
It took the country forever to reach $20 trillion, but the next $20 trillion happened in a heartbeat. United States government spending is officially moving faster than the laws of physics should allow. The government is now paying more in interest on old debt than it is spending on the entire military.
We are essentially borrowing money just to pay the interest on the money we borrowed yesterday. Donald Trump and Joe Biden both kept the tab running, and with thousands of retirees hitting the system every day, the math is getting ugly. It is a classic death spiral where the bill for the past is eating the budget for the future.
A debt that costs more to maintain than the country's defense is a special kind of fiscal achievement.
Source: New York Times
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