You've probably been hearing about the massive problem of the national debt for years. If you're Gen Z, it's been an issue your entire conscious life. Since 2000, the debt has grown from $5.6 trillion to over $31.38 trillion—a whopping 460% increase—while threatening to let the nation default has become a hot button issue. (The oldest members of Gen Z were born in 1997, so they've lived with financial doomsday warnings about the debt since they were 3 years old.) Threats in Congress to refuse to raise the debt ceiling have also grown in frequency over the last 20 years, usually as Republicans, the party traditionally associated with debt reduction (despite Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump both significantly growing the deficit), hammer on the need to cut spending while a Democrat is in office.
Still, despite a few close calls, the U.S. has never defaulted on its debt obligations. But the tug-of-war is playing out again today, as Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has refused to pass what Democratic President Joe Biden calls a "clean" debt ceiling bill (i.e., with no spending cuts attached).
