"It's not only unsustainable, it's a moral failure that will harm our children and grandchildren," said Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.
by Xiong Maoling, Yu Rong
WASHINGTON, July 31 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. federal government's debt has surpassed yet another psychological threshold amid widespread concerns.
According to data released by the U.S. Treasury Department on Monday, the federal government's total public debt has surpassed 35 trillion U.S. dollars for the first time, as recorded at the end of last week, equivalent to the combined economic output of China, Germany, Japan, India and Britain.
Why is the U.S. national debt growing at an accelerated pace? Why can't calls from all sectors awaken a political conscience to address the issue? Has the scale of the debt reached a critical crisis point?
Upon reviewing the historical trajectory of U.S. debt, it has become clear that the country has developed an addiction to borrowing, depending on the dollar's dominant position in the global economy. The debt scale has surged on an unsustainable path, driven by a failing political system and ineffective governance, causing ongoing harm both domestically and globally.
Debt is among the most clear-cut and consequential problems in the U.S. economic and financial sectors. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has even called U.S. public debt the "most predictable crisis" facing the American economy. Given this, why does the debt continue to spiral out of control?
"How we got here is a long story of repeated chapters of fiscal irresponsibility on both sides of the aisle. Leaders in Washington have made imprudent decisions over decades, time and again choosing a favorite new tax cut or spending program above our collective future," said Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, when the U.S. national debt surpassed 30 trillion dollars.
According to the foundation, the national debt of 35 trillion dollars translates to 103,945 dollars of debt per person in the United States. "It's not only unsustainable, it's a moral failure that will harm our children and grandchildren," Peterson said, urging policymakers to put the nation on a strong and sustainable fiscal path.
Desmond Lachman, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a former official at the IMF, told Xinhua earlier that while Republicans prefer tax cuts without cutting public spending, Democrats favor increasing public spending without raising taxes.
Lachman said the net result is that the country continues to run budget deficits, with public debt on an unsustainable path.
Experts and observers have indicated that lawmakers in Washington have shown minimal interest in reducing spending or implementing meaningful budget reform. With the 2024 presidential election less than 100 days away, national debt is not a major topic of discussion.
"The leading presidential candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump, have said little about the nation's deficits on the campaign trail, suggesting that the economic problem will only worsen in the coming years," The New York Times reported.
"There is zero support for cuts in any major areas," Dean Baker, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told Xinhua.
"The deficit projections are evidence of a broken budget system," Barry Bosworth, economist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said.■
