The Debt Ceiling: A Brewing Storm Cloud Over National Security Billionaire investor David Rubenstein's warning about the ballooning US debt pile has sent shockwaves through financial circles.
For decades, the country has been living with record levels of debt. The numbers are stark: the US now pays over $1 trillion in interest annually – more than four times what was spent in 1991.
Historically, when a country's interest payments on its debt exceed those for national defense, it's seen as a sign of weakness. This threshold has been crossed. In 2022, the US paid an all time high of 18.