For years, warnings about government deficits and borrowing sounded abstract. It was an afterthought – something for TV pundits and bond traders. Now the numbers are big enough, and the interest bills high enough, that the issue is starting to look like a core economic story.
Larger Than Medicare
With rising debt, the cost of servicing is accelerating beyond even the largest individual government spending.
America’s $38 trillion national debt is so big that the nearly $1 trillion interest payment will be larger than Medicare soon, Fortune noted last month.
That’s a remarkable shift. Not long ago, interest was a relatively minor line item. In fiscal 2019, net interest was about $375 billion. By fiscal 2025, it had jumped to roughly $952 billion, and projections suggest it will keep rising as both the debt stock and average borrowing costs increase.
The underlying problem isn’t just rates—it’s deficits. The U.S. is running annual shortfalls approaching $2 trillion, meaning it must constantly issue new debt while rolling over old obligations. That structural “primary deficit,” as economists call it, is the main driver of higher interest costs. As the …Full story available on Benzinga.com
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