US National Debt Surpasses $40 Trillion, Renewing Debate Over Fiscal Outlook

US national debt surpassed $40 trillion on Tuesday amid federal budget deficits and decades of borrowing.

Shaky Fiscal Foundation: Alan Rappeport, writing for The New York Times Opinion (Left bias) highlighted President Donald Trump's promises to restore fiscal order, saying that "many of his policies have only exacerbated America's financial woes." However, the article also said that it is debatable "whether the mounting debt load is a problem to be solved or a function of America's economic strength." According to Rappeport, "deficits are also a point of political gamesmanship," asserting that "Republicans [are] most passionate about eliminating them when they are out of power." Regardless, Rappeport explained that "both Republicans and Democrats are responsible for America's borrowing burden," adding that the $40 trillion mark is "an ominous milestone for an economy that sits on a shaky fiscal foundation."

'Many Available Solutions': Outlets on the right like Fox Business (Lean Right) were more likely to highlight "surging interest costs" and "growth in federal spending on Social Security and Medicare amid the aging of the U.S. population" as reasons behind the rapidly growing debt. The article cited CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation Michael A. Peterson who said "For the millions concerned about affordability, let's start by asking Washington to take notice that the national debt just hit $40 trillion," and "we must change course." Peterson added, however, that "the only good thing about our fiscal challenge is that there are many available solutions, and the budget is entirely within our control." Peterson also noted that US adversaries "like China, Russia and Iran likely enjoy seeing the country devalue its economic future."

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Unsustainable Fiscal Trajectory: The Wall Street Journal (Center) said in an analysis that the $40 trillion "threshold carries symbolic weight, but isn't, by itself, economically significant." The article explained that "most investors and economists care less about raw figures than other measures, like the ratio of debt to gross domestic product, which provides a better sense of an economy's borrowing capacity." The focus of economists, according to the article, is on debt held by the public, which was $32.266 trillion on Tuesday. However, "$40 trillion is a big number," and according to The Journal is "likely to at least briefly draw attention to what economists broadly agree is an unsustainable fiscal trajectory."

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