The US national debt just hit a new all-time high of $34.667 trillion.
New numbers from the Treasury Department’s Debt to the Penny system show the country’s national debt reached the milestone on Friday, May 31st.
That’s a $677 billion increase from the start of 2024, when the nation’s debt stood at $33.990 trillion.
The new record high comes amid a report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) warning that the greater the nation’s debt, the less money Americans will earn.
“The current law debt trajectory will reduce income growth by 12% over the next three decades and 13% annually by Fiscal Year (FY) 2049.
Rapidly rising debt could reduce income growth by 33% over the next three decades and 42% annually by FY 2049.
Rapidly rising debt would reduce projected income by about $14,500 per person in FY 2054, in today’s dollars.”
The CBO says the reduction in household income is due to “crowding out,” an economic theory that traces how high debt and deficits slow economic growth on national and individual level.
“…High debt and deficits carry significant risks and threats to the budget and the economy.
High and rising debt hinders economic growth by crowding out investments, pushes up interest rates, strains the federal budget through rising interest payments, creates geopolitical challenges and risks, makes responding to new emergencies more challenging, imposes burdens on future generations, and increases the risk of a fiscal crisis.”
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