‘A major problem’: The US is now a record $31 trillion in debt, made worse by rising interest rates — and this is who holds the IOUs

Yahoo!Finance/Lauren Bird/11-9-2022

“The gross national debt in America has hit new heights, surpassing $31 trillion, according to a recent U.S. treasury report. If you find that hard to wrap your head around, it basically boils down to more than $93,000 of debt for every person in the country, according to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.”

USAGOLD note: Moneywise’s Lauren Bird offers a detailed profile of the US national debt and why it matters to investors/citizens. “For too long,” says Michael A. Peterson of the Peterson Foundation, “policymakers have assumed perpetually low interest rates, and we are now seeing in real time how dangerous that assumption is.” With the red wave turning out to be a ripple, the government’s predilection for deficits and debt is not likely to reverse anytime soon. Many economists believe that ultimately the Fed will be forced to abandon quantitative tightening to finance the government’s needs – pushing ever harder on the inflation rate.

Sources: St. Louis Federal Reserve [FRED], U.S. Department of the Treasury. Fiscal Service