$473 Billion Debt Increase in Just Three Weeks Pushes U.S. National Debt to Unprecedented Levels

The total U.S. Federal debt grew by a whopping $473 billion over the past three weeks to reach a record $35.8 trillion, meaning that the country has taken on $1,450 of debt for every American in that same period.

According to the economics outlet Kobeissi Letter on the microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter), the rise means that the U.S. now holds “a record $103,700 of debt for every American.”

On top of that, interest payments this year have reached $1.16 trillion, meaning it’s the first-ever year in which the figure surpassed $1 trillion, with the country paying $3,360 for every American during 2024’s fiscal year.

You can’t make this up:

Total US debt has jumped by $473 BILLION over the last 3 weeks alone, to a record $35.8 trillion.

This means the US has taken on $1,450 of debt for EVERY American over the last 3 weeks alone.

It also means that the US now holds a record $103,700 of debt… pic.twitter.com/0ocgYe56A5

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) October 21, 2024

In a follow-up post on the microblogging platform, Kobeissi Letter added that US deficit spending as a percentage of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is “at World War 2 levels,” noting that “unsustainable is an understatement” when referring to the situation.

As CryptoGlobe reported, the growing debt is coming at a time in which the U.S. Federal Reserve is attempting “something unprecedented” as it moves to a no landing scenario – in which the economy avoids a downturn – as inflation dropped by over 5.8% in the last two year, in the biggest drop since the 1980s.

The drop is beyond that of the 2008 Financial Crisis and has “never been seen outside of recessions.” The interest rate cuts and the Federal Reserve’s course is notable, as it conducted “one of the most aggressive rate hike cycles in history, raising rates from near zero to 5.5% in 16 months.”

Despite these metrics, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is instead worrying about the global economic situation ver ongoing geopolitical threats coming from an “evil axis” that shows “that conditions are treacherous and getting worse.”

He noted that inflation is moving down and the US economy seemingly avoided a recession, although “several critical issues remain,” including “large fiscal deficits, infrastructure needs, restructuring of trade and remilitarization of the world.”

Dimon has been warning about geopolitical instability for over an year and repeatedly called it the largest threat to global economy. He has said, at the Financial Markets Quality Conference in Washington last month, that “Iran, North Korea and Russia, I think you can legitimately call them (an) evil axis.”

Featured image via Pexels.

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