A recent report from the U.S. Treasury Department received less press than it should have. The "2025 Financial Report of the United States Government" showed that the gross national debt as of Sept. 30, 2025, was $37.6 trillion. Real-time tracking released in April puts the updated figure at $39 trillion.
That number is difficult to comprehend, but for investors, there is a signal about inflation that shouldn’t be ignored. This isn’t alarmist rhetoric, it’s just math. In 2025, the federal government paid approximately $970 billion in interest on its debt—more than the entirety of the widely publicized defense budget. And as the debt increases, so too will its interest costs.
