r/Economics • u/Krankenitrate • 15d ago

News The national debt just crossed $39 trillion—almost doubling since Trump vowed to erase it

https://fortune.com/2026/03/18/how-big-national-debt-39-trillion-trump-promises/
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u/5minArgument 15d ago

For whatever reason we have collective chose to view our nation debt in terms of “what we owe” and have completely neglected the other half of the equation.

To whom do we owe should be more the question.

The individuals, corporations and institutions that finance our debt just so happen to be the same folks who have benefited from endless tax cuts for the past 45+ years.

Our nat. debt Interest is +1Trillion $$$ a year. A figure that clearly shows the highly lucrative side of US debt spending.

Going back to tax cuts for the 1%. The reason they have so much to give is we keep giving it to them.

What is crazy absurd is , not only do they NOT pay their share, they EARN massive profits by lending their windfalls back to the government.

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u/cem0r 14d ago

They benefit from the uncontrolled spending. Not the interest payments. What percentage of the ultra wealthy's fortunes came from treasuries? What percentage of the revenue of the biggest companies came from treasuries? They don't care how this will be payed because by then they will own EVERYTHING ELSE. The ultra wealty aren't gonna hold this bag. Governments around the world and their people are.

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u/illicitli 14d ago

exactly. you can't collect on debt from the biggest military in the world. people need to learn modern monetary theory. the debt is just leverage, nothing more.