US Debt Burden Surpasses 1991 Record In Key Metric

[Economy 53,177]

https://fortune.com/2026/09/07/us-national-debt-interest-1-trillion-1991-bond-yields-scott-bessent/

 

The US debt which now surpasses $40T now costs $1.25T in debt interest alone. More than the Country spends on defence.

 

However the debt burden has hit a new record on a key metric - the percentage of the budget going towards interest on the debt

 

18.5% of tax revenue now must cover the interest. That surpasses the previous high in 1991 when it was 18.4%. In 1991 the debt was way lower at about 44% of GDP vs 120% now (100% if calculated only as Net Debt) but effective interest rates were much higher then

 

If rates were as high now as in 1991, most likely the US would already be in a full blown crisis

[PartySick 175,056]

That's it, bring Bill Clinton back

[River 129,227]

You're welcome, thank you for being a great ally

[Morphine Prince 110,034]

Thank you Trump

[skaxboy 7,115]

If it were a person, it’d be someone who lives in a lovely home and drives a luxury car. Wears designer brands and likes to pay for others. Yet is in thousands of dollars in debt. 

[princedeeblebleble 3,914]

Call me stupid, but WHO are they in debt to?  I never got this bs.

[Red 99,631]

Don’t worry, re-naming the country to America America of America will solve this crisis 

[bxr 3,191]

Whew, well … credit [debt] where it‘s due—literally

That said:

Spoiler

Additionally … live footage of every generation since the Millennials:

[Bronco 28,305]

14 minutes ago, princedeeblebleble said:

Call me stupid, but WHO are they in debt to?  I never got this bs.

Governments sell bonds to fund spending beyond their total annual incomes. 

Those Government bonds are split between other countries and private investors. 

Its like one of the oldest forms of investments because if you do it with stable countries like the US, it was almost always the case you would get your money back + interest without issue. 

[gagzus 25,801]

tbh when i think about it is National Debt even a real thing. especially now digital money is a thing. 

[Bronco 28,305]

28 minutes ago, gagzus said:

tbh when i think about it is National Debt even a real thing. especially now digital money is a thing. 

Honestly, back when currencies were set by the gold standard it had actual value.

Now its just made up numbers. 

[Economy 53,177]

4 hours ago, Bronco said:

Honestly, back when currencies were set by the gold standard it had actual value.

Now its just made up numbers. 

I only semi agree with this. Its true in the sense that fiat currencies can be made out of thin air and u cant create endless gold

 

But the 2nd argument ppl give that fiat currencies are only worth as much as the trust and demand on it tbh i think can also equally apply to gold. Its not like you eat gold or consume it as a necessity. Its shiny we like it, make jewlery etc and so we decide its valuable. But other than a few industrial applications its not actually something critical to society. And in. Post apocalytic world for example i can see a lot of stuff surpassing gold in value. So gold is valuable because we agree its valuable

 

In that sense i dont think fiat currencies are as different from gold in that regard as some make it out to be. The biggest difference is that since u cant print gold, u cant dilute it endlessly and kill the confidence in it that way

[Economy 53,177]

4 hours ago, gagzus said:

tbh when i think about it is National Debt even a real thing. especially now digital money is a thing. 

Digital or in paper i dont think makes any difference. Its the values attached to them

[JoeCool 1,101]

Lets Make America the 1990s Again

 

 

 

[Bronco 28,305]

1 hour ago, Economy said:

I only semi agree with this. Its true in the sense that fiat currencies can be made out of thin air and u cant create endless gold

 

But the 2nd argument ppl give that fiat currencies are only worth as much as the trust and demand on it tbh i think can also equally apply to gold. Its not like you eat gold or consume it as a necessity. Its shiny we like it, make jewlery etc and so we decide its valuable. But other than a few industrial applications its not actually something critical to society. And in. Post apocalytic world for example i can see a lot of stuff surpassing gold in value. So gold is valuable because we agree its valuable

 

In that sense i dont think fiat currencies are as different from gold in that regard as some make it out to be. The biggest difference is that since u cant print gold, u cant dilute it endlessly and kill the confidence in it that way

I disagree on gold having few uses etc because the biggest driver in gold value is its use in electronics. Which is more important now than it ever has been. 

I do agree that gold value fluctuates as a result. But when currency was pinned to gold reserves, the fluctuating was still underpinned by the physical existence of that gold reserve. Fiat currencies lack that tie to reality