How to Money · Friday, August 28, 2026
The United States national debt has officially crossed the $40 trillion mark. While this milestone doesn't signify an immediate crisis, it's a point of concern as interest payments on the debt are projected to overtake Medicare spending this year. This growing debt burden is becoming an 'albatross around the neck' of the economy.
“So we've crossed officially as of, what, seven days ago, the $40 trillion debt threshold. And it is just a big round number, which draws attention, Matt. It doesn't necessarily mean we have gone over some cliff or that we have gone past a point of no return in the amount of federal borrowing that has been done.”
“But I do think if we were wise, we would look ahead and look at the next 20 years and say, man, I don't think things are going to be quite as forgiving or great as they've been for the past 20 years, right? I think that there is a chance we might see tax....”
“Instead of cutting spending and reducing deficits, which would be a long term solution to the problem, they're resorting to financial engineering. And that is exactly is what this is, is like we're unwilling to make the hard choices in our country to say, actually, we have to raise taxes or we have to cut We have to make changes to the program, the Social Security program.”