According to Treasury Department data published on Oct. 4, the United States' national debt has surpassed $31 trillion for the first time in history.
The national debt reached $31.123 trillion on Oct. 3, just nine months after surpassing $30 trillion in early January.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress and the president increased government borrowing to help the economy recover after job losses and supply chain disruptions, and to stimulate the economy after the lockdown ended.
“This is a new record no one should be proud of,” Maya MacGuineas, president of the CRFB, said in a statement. “In the past 18 months, we’ve witnessed inflation rise to a 40-year high, interest rates climbing in part to combat this inflation, and several budget-busting pieces of legislation and executive actions.”
The national debt stood at $22.7 trillion at the end of 2019 before the pandemic. Within a year, it had risen to $27.7 trillion and has continued to grow.
However, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) pointed out on Oct. 3 that the government continues to borrow huge amounts of money despite the fact that the nation has overcome the most severe challenges of the pandemic.
5 October 2022
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