The US national debt has reached record levels exceeding 37 trillion dollars, at a time when concerns are rising about the implications for the financial and economic stability of the United States and the world. This troubling increase is attributed to a combination of structural factors, chief among them an aging population and rising healthcare costs, which put enormous pressure on long-term government spending programs such as health insurance and retirement. Concurrently, servicing the national debt through interest payments has become the fastest-growing item in the budget, with over 13 trillion dollars expected to be drained over the next decade, which may undermine the government's ability to fund its future priorities.