Economists view the $40 trillion threshold as largely symbolic
The Wall Street Journal’s 10-Point newsletter on Thursday picked up the Treasury’s Wednesday disclosure that U.S. gross debt has crossed $40 trillion for the first time. The Journal framed the development as an “eye-popping new milestone,” though the same edition noted that economists view the threshold as “largely symbolic” — even as the magnitude of the figure dwarfs the entire annual output of the U.S. economy.
The newsletter placed the milestone in the context of decades of higher spending on Medicare and Social Security, tax cuts, and stimulus efforts that, taken together, have brought the U.S. to this point. The Journal tied the moment to the bond market, writing that a confluence of factors driving up bond yields has now prompted Bessent to step in as America’s “bond trader in chief.”
The 10-Point is a daily newsletter offering what the Journal describes as a guided tour of the best coverage in its pages. The Aug. 20 edition was curated and edited by Morgan Smith and Bryony Watson in collaboration with Editor in Chief Emma Tucker.
MSI previously reported that the Treasury reported on Wednesday that gross national debt crossed $40 trillion for the first time, and separately covered Treasury’s announcement that it would more than double bond buybacks as bond yields hit multi-year highs: US gross national debt tops $40 trillion for first time, Treasury says and Treasury to more than double bond buybacks as yields hit multi-year highs.