National debt keeps climbing… how bad is it really?

Seeking Advice
1

The US debt is at a record high, even worse than during WWII. Right now, just paying the interest on it takes up a big chunk of government revenue. Some say it’s getting close to what Greece was dealing with during their crisis.

The Treasury is still paying a lower interest rate on a lot of this debt because it was borrowed when rates were low, but if rates stay high, it’s going to be a huge problem. If they go back to what they were in the 80s or 90s, we could be in serious trouble.

What’s the actual solution here? Raise taxes? Cut spending? Or are we just kicking the can down the road?

2

I think taxes will have to go up eventually. Interest rates may come down a little, but we’re not going back to the ultra-low rates from a few years ago.

3

Drew said:
I think taxes will have to go up eventually. Interest rates may come down a little, but we’re not going back to the ultra-low rates from a few years ago.

Yeah, interest rates are low compared to the past, but they’re not what they used to be. And if they stay like this long-term, we’re gonna have to make some big changes.

4

@Zach
I don’t get why people act like the 70s and 80s were the ‘normal’ rates. We’ve been trending lower for decades because of globalization, an aging population, and other factors.

5

Drew said:
@Zach
I don’t get why people act like the 70s and 80s were the ‘normal’ rates. We’ve been trending lower for decades because of globalization, an aging population, and other factors.

I mean, we thought rates would stay low forever, but the last few years have kinda proved that theory wrong. A lot of experts are now saying we’re in a different situation than we were post-2008.

6

@Zach
Politicians are starting to realize inflation is a real election killer. No one wants to be the one raising rates again.

7

@Zach
Looking at that chart, rates don’t seem that low right now. Kinda average. Why do you think they’re still low?

8

Not losing sleep over it. Every time people start screaming about the debt, it’s usually just an excuse to cut social programs.

9

Tatum said:
Not losing sleep over it. Every time people start screaming about the debt, it’s usually just an excuse to cut social programs.

Yep. If they actually cared, they’d be willing to raise taxes too. But somehow it’s always just about cutting services.

10

@Winter
Especially for the rich…

11

@Winter
And they always target stuff regular people need, not things like military spending.

12

I’ve been hearing about this my whole life. The debt always goes up no matter who’s in charge. Is there actually a point where it becomes a real problem?

13

Eli said:
I’ve been hearing about this my whole life. The debt always goes up no matter who’s in charge. Is there actually a point where it becomes a real problem?

Yeah, I get that. People have been freaking out about it for decades. But now that we’re paying more in interest than we spend on some major programs, we might actually be at that point.

14

@Zach
Fair, but I still don’t see the actual breaking point. What’s gonna happen if we keep going like this?

15

We should tax the ultra-rich way more and cut military spending. Why do we need 800 military bases all over the world?

16

Zen said:
We should tax the ultra-rich way more and cut military spending. Why do we need 800 military bases all over the world?

Funny enough, having bases overseas is actually cheaper than trying to move troops around when something happens. Some countries even pay us to keep them there.

17

@Zach
Didn’t know that. I still feel like we could trim the budget a lot, though.

18

Funny how Republicans only care about debt when they’re not in power. They spend just as much as anyone else when they’re in charge.

19

Been hearing about the debt crisis for 30 years and nothing’s happened yet. Starting to think it’s just a scare tactic.

20

Not really worried. If we want to fix it, we’d have to raise taxes.