The U.S. is perched on a treacherous fiscal ledge. The national debt held by the public has surged past $38 trillion, around 101% of GDP, and is expected to balloon to 120% a decade from now. The country has successfully sidestepped fiscal meltdowns before, but whether the current generation of leaders has the political will to dig itself out of its fiscal hole is up for debate.
While national debt was once made out to be a long-term issue, not necessarily as urgent as maintaining certain types of spending, it is no longer a distant threat. Earlier this month, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office published a sobering outlook for the country’s fiscal future. In addition to rising debt, the inflated interest that the U.S. will have to pay annually risks crowding out essential government spending elsewhere, including for Social Security, which could be left penniless within a few years.
