US National Debt – A Reality That Requires Attention
• 📊 Total Debt Value: Approximately $36.2 trillion by the end of April 2025, with an increase of about $1.56 trillion over the past year.
• 🧮 Debt as a Percentage of GDP: Currently approaching 100% of GDP, heading towards 118% by 2035 according to the Office of Management and Budget's projections ⛔.
• 📅 Continuous Growth: Since 2019, the debt has risen by 30–31%, nearly doubling over the past decade from $28 trillion (2014) to $36 trillion now.
• 💸 Increasing Interest: The budget anticipates that interest paid will reach about 13–14% of total spending between 2025–2027.
1. Risk to Financial Stability
The rising debt-to-GDP ratio is prompting investor caution, which raises government borrowing costs and affects personal and mortgage interest rates.
2. Future Budget Pressures
The share of interest in the budget will increase, reducing spending on services like education and healthcare.
3. Painful Choices
Among the proposed scenarios: raising taxes, cutting spending, or relying on economic growth exceeding expectations—all of which carry significant challenges.