The American national debt has grown enormously in recent years. According to the latest official data, the amount is at a dizzying level of $ 36.22 trillion. It is not for nothing that this leads to great worries. How could it get that far? And perhaps even more important: what does this mean for the future of the US, and the world economy?
De debtberg is growing faster than ever
To put the billion amount in perspective, it is no less than 118.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP). For comparison: NL has a national debt of € 518.4 billion (per 2024), around 43.2% of the total GDP.
What makes this situation even more worrying? The debt is only growing faster. And that is quite contradictory, because you would expect something to be done about it. But no, the American national debt continues to run at lightning speed.
In the past five years alone, the debt has grown by no less than $ 12.97 trillion, which is more than $ 65,000 per second. This means that, by the time you have read this article, the national debt has already increased by millions of dollars.
In January 2025, the American national debt rose daily with an astronomical $ 5.64 billion, while interest guests rose to a stunning $ 19.63 billion a month. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), an independent government agency that analyzes the financial impact of policy, sounds alarm. If the action is not taken quickly, they predict that the debt/bbo ratio can rise to a bizarre 200%by 2035.
What drives the American national debt?
The rising debt burden is caused by various structural factors.
1. Financial crisis 2008
Firstly, there was the financial crisis of 2008. It forced the US government to maintain mass rescue operations to keep the economy up. Banks and large companies were given billions of support to prevent bankruptcies, while incentive measures were used to get the economy going again.
In 2008, the national debt was still at $ 10.6 trillion. This means that the total amount has increased by 241.5% in the last 17 years.
2. of coronandemie
However, the Corona Pandemie caused an even greater economic shock, so that the government again had to get into the pouch. To support companies, households and the healthcare sector, more than $ 5 trillion was spent on stimulation packages in 2020.
This caused an unprecedented increase in the US national debt, which exploded to $ 26.9 trillion in the same year. The pandemie also anchored a pattern of high government spending, so that debt growth continued after the crisis.
3. Political impasse and structural problems
Finally, there are other fundamental problems that cause a higher debt. For example, there is aging and healthcare costs are getting higher, without getting good results in return.
There is also reluctance from both sides in politics. The Republicans do not want tax increases, Democrats do not cut cuts, making effective debt reduction unattainable.
The global impact of the American debt crisis
It may be clear, the towering debts are far from ideal. The US government, for example, has to spend more and more interest on interest, and in 2025 the interest charges are already rising to $ 1.8 trillion, which is more than the defense budget and Medicare together. This means that less money is available for crucial investments in infrastructure, education and innovation, which can harm economic growth in the long term.
If the US does not tackle its debt problem, the economy threatens to get stuck in a vicious circle of low growth and towering interest costs. And that is not just a problem for America itself. As the largest economy in the world and with the US dollar as the dominant world reservation, financial problems in the US can cause global shock waves.
Claim € 10 free today and do not pay trading costs over the first € 10,000!
Grab this unique opportunity with Newsbit and Bitvavo by creating an account now via the button below. Only deposit € 10 and receive € 10 free of charge. Moreover, you can act without costs for 7 days over your first € 10,000 in transactions. Start today and take advantage of the growing popularity of Crypto!
Make your account and claim € 10 for free.
Don’t miss this opportunity to take advantage of the growing popularity of Crypto!
Source: https://newsbit.nl/deepdive-waarom-de-amerikaanse-staatsschuld-ongekend-hoog-is/
