The U.S. national debt is now so large that it constitutes 74 percent of America’s annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Not since World War II has this percentage been so high. And today’s debt is not so much the product of a worldwide war but of the constant deficit spending required to pay for American entitlements.
“Testifying in the U.S Senate yesterday, Congressional Budget Office Director Keith Hall warned that the publicly held debt of the U.S. government, when measured as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product,” is poised to become more than 100 percent of total U.S. annual private-plus-public output.
The story is here.
“By 2039, CBO projects, the debt will increase to 101 percent of GDP and by 2040 to 103 percent GDP.”
Of course, the unfunded future cost of entitlements is projected by some to be more than $200 trillion. And America’s Social Security and Medicare entitlements are not structured as pay-as-you-go financial programs; they are essentially Ponzi schemes requiring future generations to pay for them.
