The United States has returned to the center of global economic scrutiny, as the recent acceleration in federal borrowing has exceeded normal boundaries and is signaling a structural crisis. According to official data, U.S. national debt has climbed from $36.2 trillion to $38.3 trillion—meaning that $2.1 trillion in new debt has been generated in only five months. This astonishing pace—nearly $14 billion per day—surpasses even the peak of the pandemic, a period when many believed Washington’s fiscal expansion had reached its limits.
Historical charts tracking the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio show that the country has experienced wide fluctuations since the 1940s. After World War II, the ratio gradually declined from around 110 percent and fell to roughly 30 percent by the 1970s. But from the 1980s onward, the trajectory reversed, accelerating sharply over recent decades. The 2008 financial crisis and later the COVID-19 pandemic sped up this climb, bringing U.S. public debt to today’s level of nearly 125 percent of GDP.
Economists view this pattern as evidence of a structural transformation in the U.S. economy—one that relies more than ever on low interest rates, continuous borrowing, and large-scale money creation. The troubling point, they warn, is that interest rates are currently high, making debt-service costs one of the largest line items in the federal budget.
Experts caution that if this trend continues, it could affect global markets, given that the dollar remains the backbone of international trade, and any shock in U.S. debt will generate consequences far beyond America’s borders. At the same time, the sharp rise in federal debt is narrowing the room for future fiscal policymaking and increasing the risk of recession or financial shocks.
NOURNEWS