The national debt has reached $34.55 trillion, equating to $103,671 per person, $262,886 per household, and $477,731 per child.
The U.S. national debt is climbing rapidly and shows no signs of slowing down, despite increasing criticism of massive government spending.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the national debt—which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors—had risen to $34,577,128,968,551.63, according to the latest figures from the Treasury Department. This marks an increase of about $8.8 billion from the previous day's figure.
Four decades ago, the national debt was around $907 billion by comparison.
The outlook for the federal debt level is bleak, with economists increasingly warning about the rapid pace of spending by Congress and the White House. Interest payments on the debt for the fiscal year, which begins in October, now exceed the costs of Medicare and the defense budget.
The latest findings from the Congressional Budget Office indicate that the national debt will grow to an astonishing $54 trillion in the next decade, driven by an aging population and rising federal health care costs. Higher interest rates are also compounding the pain of higher debt.
Such a debt level could jeopardize America's economic standing in the world.
"America’s fiscal outlook is more dangerous and daunting than ever, threatening our economy and the next generation," said Michael Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which advocates for reducing the federal deficit. "This is not the future any of us want, and it’s no way to run a great nation like ours."
The relentless increase prompted Fitch Ratings to issue a surprise downgrade of the nation's long-term credit score in mid-2023. The agency lowered the U.S. debt rating by one notch, from AAA to AA+, citing concerns over the country's deteriorating finances and the government's ability to address the ballooning debt amid sharp political divisions.
"This is a warning shot across the U.S. government's bow that it needs to right its fiscal ship," Sean Snaith, an economist at the University of Central Florida, told FOX Business. "You can't just spend trillions of dollars more than you have in revenue every year and expect no ill consequences."
