Last week the bond market sent Washington a message. The 10-year Treasury yield hit 5.04%, its highest since 2007 and the Fed raised rates for the first time since 2023. Oil prices and inflation lit that match, but mounting government debt sits on every analyst’s list of why yields keep climbing.
Here’s what they’re climbing against. The gross national debt crossed $40 trillion in August — after hitting $38 trillion in October and $39 trillion in March. A trillion dollars every five months. The deficit hit $2 trillion with a month still left in the fiscal year. In 2025, Moody’s became the last of the three major credit rating agencies to strip the United States of its AAA rating, joining S&P (2011) and Fitch (2023).
