Federal debt reaches new heights [Video]

The federal deficit for the past fiscal year was $1.8 trillion. While there have been times when it was that high (inflation-adjusted), they were during major wars or the pandemic. The fact that we are near record levels when the economy is growing is alarming, particularly given that (1) the Congressional Budget Office projects it at $2.9 trillion in 10 years if we remain on this trajectory and (2) both presidential candidates are backing proposals that would add more red ink.

The United States has carried debtsince its inception, beginning with $75 million borrowed from investors and France during the American Revolution. Andrew Jackson actually paid it off in 1835 through spending cuts and selling federal lands (which created a real estate bubble and the Panic of 1837), but otherwise the US has always been a debtor nation. The debt reached $1 billion during the Civil War but did not hit $1 trillion until 1981. …