$40 Trillion and Counting: How America Lost Its Fiscal Way The United States' total debt surpassed $40 trillion for the first time this month, prompting economists to sound alarm bells about the country's fiscal trajectory.
The issue is not just the sheer size of the national debt but also its alarming growth rate compared to nominal GDP.
Since 2006, gross federal debt has increased by $32 trillion, a five fold rise during a period when the economy grew less than 2. 5 times over.