US hits $38T in debt. Fastest accumulation of $1T outside pandemic (apnews.com)

It is important to keep in mind that the treasury rate drives the rate of most consumer credit. If it gets more expensive for the US to borrow due to debt load, consumer credit will stay or get more expensive. This will, very likely, slow the economy due to increased cost of mortgages, auto loans, and unsecured credit.

I'm painfully aware that this is a stupid question, but who do they owe that to?

Of course that was back when a trillion dollars was worth something.

I’m not able to read the article right this moment, but I immediately wonder if it’s the fastest accumulation after adjusting for inflation? I’m guessing yes.

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Reminder: as long as we have the printers running[1] and the dollar being the fiat currency of the world, this doesn't mean anything.

[1] https://brrr.money/

The past two administrations, arguably the past three if you think the pandemic was overblown (I don’t), have been totally reckless with spending and their ostrich-like refusal to reform entitlements. Maybe the suspension of SNAP will “break the seal” on further entitlement cuts?

If they just fire the person reporting these deficit numbers, we won't have a deficit. It's very simple.

What happens if Trump decides to default on the debt?

Could this be how he stops the election, or stops the vote count?

at some point - spending stops becoming a political game, and we start to take debt seriously.

But no one in politics won't do that.

Cutting out many of the already shaky social safety nets, still accumulating massive debt. This should end well.

I understand the self-interested desire for the ultra wealthy to have lower taxes on an individual level, but yet I still don't understand how they are perpetually blind to the fact that whatever the release valve for the historic and still growing massive wealth inequality we have takes, it won't be great for them either in the long term.

Sure its nice for them to make asset grabs during economic downturns, but eventually there's always a tipping point where things go upside down chaotic and I don't feel like we are that far away from it now.

The debt isn't the issue, spending is, and it has bipartisan support.

Given that U.S. federal spending always goes up, and inflation always goes up, wouldn't it be the case that every $1T in debt would be accumulated faster than the previous $1T? That's generally how exponential growth works: https://farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/12...

Apparently shell companies in the Cayman islands own a lot of this debt? Can anyone validate? https://www.threads.com/@shresht/post/DINKpmAzqm0/can-someon...

Somehow during Dem administrations, we have an improving budget deficit (even sometimes a surplus) while maintaining more of a social safety net.

That should pretty much tell you everything.

So... can someone explain who do we owe this 38T$ *TO*?

Or is this more similar medical debt funny money where they just use a RNG to make up a number.

In general I am a deficit owl, not hawk...but I don't believe the recent tax law, which barely does anything for middle class downwards, is a productive use of debt. Debt accumulated for productive means is usually okay, but not this upwards accumulation of wealth.

Here is proposal to the boomers from a zoomer. I've paid over 100k in social security in my lifetime. Apparently social security is "not an entitlement(lol)" but you can have it all. Take every cent, but starting tomorrow there are no more checks.

This is what a "fiscally conservative" party in charge of government looks like

In fiscal 2024 the US federal government brought in revenues of $4.9T and spent $6.8T (https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61185). Of that $6.8T, mandatory spending accounted for $4.1T (https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61182). Mandatory spending is automatic, the laws are already in place and the money is spent based on the situation and natural demand.

Of the $2.7T of not-mandatory spending, $0.9T was servicing existing debt. Of the remaining $1.8T of actual spending, defense accounted for $0.85T. The final remaining $0.96T is what's actually voted on in any budget, which is about 15% of all government spending (https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61184).

Here is a puzzle:

Investors in bonds look for a percentage growth, year over year. That's an exponential. A linear growth would be non-investable in the longer run.

From the other side, the US debt is quite linear on a log scale, so also exponential. That suddenly looks scary. But that is really to be expected? Exponential is the natural curve. If it wasn't exponential it would disappear, year over year.

The VAST majority of this growth will continue to be in healthcare and/or social security (mostly healthcare though).

Until our healthcare markets become more free market, this growth in spending will accelerate as boomers age.

Conservatives want to cut taxes to force liberals to cut spending. Liberals want to increase spending to force the conservatives to increase taxes. But voters don't like increased taxes (on themselves) or decreased spending. So we end up with the worst of both worlds--higher spending without the tax revenue to afford it. Then we get to watch each side win the war of opinion on cable news. They throw each other under the bus, eventually come to a deal, and both sides claim victory. Rinse. Repeat.

And the eastern aligned nations are buying gold like there is no tomorrow

Think the dollar may soon find itself as not only game in town for trade sooner than initially thought

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