The Julia La Roche Show · Thursday, September 24, 2026
Michael Pento refuted a CNBC commentator's argument that the U.S. does not have a debt problem because interest rates are not rising. Pento countered that the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio is actually higher than stated and that the idea of taxing 100% of GDP to pay off debt is unrealistic.
“Um, I heard someone on on CNBS say, um, and I want to mention his name. But he was commenting on how easily, we don't have a debt problem because interest rates aren't rising because we have a debt problem because the debt is 100% of our GDP.”
“Well, the debt is actually 120 to 30% of GDP. I guess he's just talking about publicly traded debt.”
“So you cannot tax 100% of GDP, and hence you cannot pay off GDP in a year as this person maintained you can do.”