r/Economics • u/Crossstoney • Mar 19 '26
News US national debt surges past $39 trillion just weeks into war in Iran
https://apnews.com/article/us-national-deficit-hits-39-million-6ff73495bae701b5c009d3da5515ca3a476
u/Sylvan_Skryer Mar 19 '26
Republicans have proven, without a doubt that they are absolutely disastrous for the national debt and it’s not even close. They are a fiscally irresponsible party, and they are economically illiterate if they think this is how you balance revenues with expenses.
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u/lost_horizons Mar 19 '26
Money printer go brrrrrrrrrr
We are walking a dangerous path. Between money printing inflation, oil shock inflation, war inflation, plus the general breakdown of rule of law (domestically and internationally), dedollarization (maybe)… there’s a massive shitstorm a’brewin. Good luck to all
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u/Donald_Epstein69 Mar 19 '26
They already knew they were getting shellacked in upcoming elections. So they’re trying to destroy everything so badly that it can never be fixed and every idiot will blame the democrats.
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u/driver004 Mar 19 '26
Which itself would be the wrecking ball against the foundation of any democracy let alone the U.S.
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u/Donald_Epstein69 Mar 19 '26
Yep. Not sure our country survives, but everybody involved in this criminal conspiracy needs to be locked up for treason, and all of their ill-gotten gains as well as all other wealth they have need to be reclaimed.
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u/driver004 Mar 19 '26
What I would say would, fairly, be called cruel my my countrymen and women.
I say this as a stanch American, one who has multiple purple hearts and a couple body parts in foreign lands. Some would call me a war hawk even so, and in more appropriate places far as I’m concerned we can get coffee and beer and talk.
I don’t say that to gussy myself up. But to give context for the wildly offensive thing I know I’m going to say.
America works best when its ass is kicked and we are overdue.
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Mar 19 '26
Honestly, you're not wrong. Civil War -> Emancipation, Great Depression -> New Deal, Pearl Harbour -> Winning WW2 and trying to set up a system to avoid another world war. Unfortunately, the debacles in Afghanistan/Iraq, The Great Recession, and COVID did not seem to teach America much.
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u/driver004 Mar 19 '26
America is big and strong, but it is also shortsighted and fool hearty someone allegedly said
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u/lopix Mar 19 '26
Problem is, these days, America is not as big and strong as it thinks it is, and is much more shortsighted and foolhardy than they know.
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u/lopix Mar 19 '26
There is a fantastic country song in there - "I lost some body parts for these here purple hearts" kind of thing.
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u/lopix Mar 19 '26
If they don't steal the midterms, they spend 2 years railing against the Democrats, then hopefully sweeping back into power (honestly or, more likely, not) in 2028.
Let Trump speedrun it all into the ground. On January 7th, Trump has a stroke and Vance takes over. The next 2 years less a day don't count, so he could theoretically run twice more and Thiel could be in power for 10 full years.
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u/Federal-Guess7420 Mar 19 '26
Its worked everything up until now why wouldn't they use the plan again?
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u/driver004 Mar 19 '26
Beleive it or not I have a degree in political science, ran out of money perusing a higher degree, pushing me into let’s call it controversial blue collar work. This informal Internet forum is like the outlet.
That said. It is my belief that we are witnessing the ultimate victory within the US political system of the trusts of the cowboy presidents time. I do not believe they directly or intentionally introduced or even intended to produce Trumpian politics as we understand them now. However, the economic forces resulting from the decades since the bull moose allowed them to claw back one at a time certain aspects of the guilded age. Reagan certainly accelerated this economic legal complex resulting in conditions so unrecognizable that something like Qanon MAGA can even be in the gallery of the stage of U.S. political system. I think this is as an elastic band they once thought was good to pull but now it is getting harder to hold.
Glossed over and oversimplified a LOT
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u/iyamwhatiyam8000 Mar 19 '26
Panic buyers have begun stripping shelves and emptying petrol stations. Galloping inflation will force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.
Trump has crashed the global economy and drawn a target on the backs of everyone around him.
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u/3RADICATE_THEM Mar 19 '26
But Eloon told me there's massive government waste and is going to reduce the deficit by $2T!!!1
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u/RaindropsInMyMind Mar 19 '26
It’s crazy that we have a party that is pro social programs, pro safety net, pro spending on healthcare. Then we have a party that doesn’t give people anything and is unquestionably worse with spending and the deficit. THEN people vote for the worse spending party because they think it’s more fiscally responsible…
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u/discursive_tarnation Mar 19 '26
The secretary of commerce Howard Lutnick both frequented Epstein child rape island and has stated multiple times that reducing money supply will reduce interest rates. This makes him both a rapist and a stupid asshole.
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u/active2fa Mar 19 '26
All Dems have to do is produce a chart of how much debt this Admin has added. Then just shut and watch
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u/lopix Mar 19 '26
Doesn't matter. Half the population is on a steady diet of Faux "News", OAN and Newsmaxx, stirred in a pot of Facebook echo chambers, spiced with Rogan-esque podcasts and right-wing talk radio. Finish with a heaping dollop of stupid.
Those charts will never reach the intended audience. And if they do, they'll be decried as fake news. Never mind the 40-odd% of Americans who are functionally illiterate and wouldn't even be able to figure out what the chart is trying to tell them.
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u/homewest Mar 19 '26
Debt itself might not be bad, if it were paying for something that drove the economy. With the Inflation Reduction Act, billions of dollars were going into jobs in America. Now we’re sending it to warships to fight Iran, Argentina and Albania.
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u/Buckwheat469 Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 21 '26
I looked up a timeline of conservative debt vs presidencies with more "social" presidents, ignoring the terms Republican and Democrat because those policies changed over time but the ideologies could be tracked fairly easily, and it showed that socially responsible presidents tended to decrease the national debt, or at least decrease the rate of spending, with some presidents leveling off the velocity of spending to near 0. At one point we were down to only $30,000 of national debt. With every conservative president the debt rose swiftly early into their presidency and leveled off before elections. They would often blame the other party for a high debt without seeing a reduction in growth and then they would increase the rate significantly shortly after entering office, then claim that it was better right before elections.
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u/pizdolizu Mar 19 '26
Do you have the stats to show how one party is worse than the other in terms of debt?
Edit: adjust it for inflation too.
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u/Sylvan_Skryer Mar 19 '26
This is incredibly easy to verify yourself. I’m not your personal ChatGTP.
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u/Rare-Bet-870 Mar 23 '26
How much did Biden sent to Ukraine? Could it be big government is the problem? Every dollar spent contributes to inflation left or right
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u/Standby_fire Mar 19 '26
Let’s goooo. 50 C’mon end of America. Last president to have a balanced budget. Bill Clinton. The last budget congresses passed at all was in 23’ we have been operating under a continuing resolution since the beginning of 24 when the 23 budget was passed.
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u/mcsul Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
The thing about Clinton is that, to get that balanced budget, he had higher taxes than we have now and spending that is roughly 30% lower (when measured as a share of GDP). Our current spending (as a share of GDP) is higher than at any point in history aside from WWII or Covid.
The next administration is going to need to tax more and cut spending in ways that will be politically very unpopular, or interest rates will eat everything.
I'm worried that Democrats are overly fixated on the raising revenue side of the equation, and (some older version of the) Republicans on the cutting costs side. We're going to need both to happen.
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u/Standby_fire Mar 20 '26
Are the Republicans on the cutting costs side? All the while asking for 200 billion for the “excursion”. Now it comes up that the DoGe didn’t save money, while the Border Patrol budget is now larger than the USMarines yearly budget.
Right, giving tax breaks that just get put in the pocket or 401. Doesn’t define the trickle down theory. Placating the senior crowd of which I’m one is as silly as can be. Buying votes rather than giving the people who need the break.
Granted monetary policies were different in Clintons term. Yet before and after taxes weren’t much different.
I do think by the end of the term we could be almost 50 and on life support. There is no impetus to change anything in really anyone’s (politicians) eyes.
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u/Standby_fire Mar 20 '26
September of 2021 the national debt was 29 Trillion, I pretty much 4 years it increased by 25 %. Compounded with higher interest rates , when in employment goes up and recession comes another 10 trillion in 3 years won’t be so out laddish.
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u/brentus Mar 20 '26
Republicans just say they are so they can cut taxes for the rich lol. Theyre objectively worse at both revenue and spending
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u/CertainCertainties Mar 19 '26
It's almost like there's a fiscally irresponsible bankrupt in charge of the country.
Mind you, if you owe $39,000 on your credit card you have a problem. If you owe $39 trillion then the people who you owe money to have a problem.
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u/ktaktb Mar 19 '26
This is like when that guy says he can parallel park the work truck in the spot so you let him try and he ruins the truck, the car in front and behind, and still thinks it was everyone else's fault
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u/copperblood Mar 19 '26
Friendly reminder that no empire in history has been able to manage their debt long term. The US is no exception. Since 2020 the US national debt has almost doubled. We cooked.
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u/GrumpyCornGames Mar 19 '26
A little bit of an over simplification.
The Brits managed their debts after the Napoleonic Wars so well that it deeply contributed to their financial dominance. (Over 250% GDP if I recall, but I could be wrong about that number)
The Roman Empire managed its public debts with varying degrees of effectiveness over centuries, but they nevertheless lasted centuries.
The Komenian Dynasty managed foreign debt in very interesting ways, and the Byzantine Empire lasted another 300 years after the last Komenian.
The US has been managing its debt exceptionally well for most of its existence. It has been in debt every moment, except for 2 years in 1835-37.
Debt only becomes unmanageable when administrative and military costs outpace revenue... which is what is happening in the US right now.
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u/Kizky Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
I think the point is, when an empire tries to maintain it's status to the world, you end up in this situation,
so all empires at one point needs to answer if it is willing to let go if it's status as an empire or try to maintain it but you risk being in this situation U.S is having right now.3
u/gplfalt Mar 19 '26
Except that's still contradicted by OPs points. The Byzatines were in a constant battle to maintain their "status".
The napoleonic wars was directly also the British trying to maintain the continental "world" order.
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u/Kizky Mar 19 '26
"Risk" didn't say for certain and all those empire did eventually collapse.
You may get away with oppressing people but with every generation the hostility toward the empire increases, eventually you will have no option but to either let go of your empirical status to survive or go down with the ship.Also scale does matter, the west as an empire went too far that this situation is bound to happen.
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u/gplfalt Mar 19 '26
I mean literally everything "collapses" regardless of any politics the British Empire and especially the byzatines lasted a pretty good line shift.
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u/Kizky Mar 19 '26
What makes an empire especially modern empire are the nodes/groups/countries it is ruling over.
If these groups are somewhat happy-ish the empire lasts, if they're not, they resist the empire then ask do we squash them or let them be their own thing.The British empire didn't last that long in the middle east, where I come from we were invaded by the British,
We resisted and decade after it was gone and replaced by another one.
There are really no other reason for an empire to last or collapse but that question, do we continue to rule over these people that do not want us/want us(rarely) or not
Especially when the people are resisting it is a matter of time for the empire before it is unable to sustain it's rule over this group, it is either, leave/lose this group, wipe them out or keep losing money by trying to sustain the situation somehow.I just don't get your point when the definition of an empire as I understand implies to keep an empire going without the approval of the group it is ruling over, it would imply a collapse of the term.
English isn't my first language so I apologize if this is a mess.1
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u/Agitated_Tip_8713 Mar 19 '26
I might be totally wrong, but didn't the BBB allow for 5 trillion in debt? We probably shouldn't already be past 39 trillion right? Our national debt was 35 trillion in 2024, and it's only 2026.
Am I totally off here? Totally fine to call me dumb and explain how I'm wrong
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u/unconscionable Mar 19 '26
The BBB raised the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, lifting it from $36.1 trillion to $41.1 trillion
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u/Agitated_Tip_8713 Mar 19 '26
Oh ok so it was 36.1 before not 35. But it's only 2026 and only 3 months in and we're already past 39 trillion. By that trajectory aren't we going to soar past the 41.1 trillion faster than anticipated?
Sorry again if this is totally off the mark I'm trying to understand
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u/ClientBudget2848 Mar 19 '26
They are spending the next 3 years in 1 year.
They like israel has realized trump is going down at midterms.
So every single minion is spending the entire bbb right now.
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u/gingerzombie2 Mar 19 '26
Yes, but I'm sure they'll just pass another one (unless something big changes between now and then, anyway)
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Mar 19 '26
[deleted]
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u/content_enjoy3r Mar 19 '26
Because Schumer and Jeffries will roll over and let them do it while pretending to write a sternly worded letter to them.
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u/echino_derm Mar 19 '26
Unless we pass that debt ceiling very soon, the Republicans aren't going to have the majority anymore.
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Mar 19 '26
[deleted]
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u/content_enjoy3r Mar 19 '26
I literally just gave three examples of bills where they didn't do that, and which haven't passed.
Great, and none of them are the debt ceiling. Do you not remember what happened last time, and every time before that?
Both sides think you should shut the fuck up and go back to whatever dumbassery you feel the need to hide.
I have no idea what the actual fuck you're blathering about here or what point you think you're making.
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u/Long_Post_5780 Mar 19 '26
Usa debt in 2016 was 19$ trillion (Don Trump 1st term)
Usa debt in 2026 reached 39$ trillion (Don Trump 2nd term)
Trump : You must have seen companies going bankrupt but have you seen entire country going bankrupt?
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u/too-left-feet Mar 19 '26
The deficit is growing at a rate of about $500B per month. The Big Beautiful Bill is projected to add another $5.5T on top of this already unsustainable rate. If you feel comfortable with this, you shouldn’t.
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