America’s Debt Crisis: Why Our Economy Is at Breaking Point
#economy #business
Our massive and unsustainable national debt stands as the most significant long-term threat to our economic prosperity and national security, in my opinion. The House Budget Committee recently released some alarming figures highlighting how rapidly our debt has been increasing: $196 billion in new debt per month, $6.4 billion per day, $268 million per hour, $4.5 million per minute, and $74,400 per second. That third number—$268 million being added to our debt every hour—really hits hard. It’s money stolen from future generations of Americans every single hour, and yet, hardly anyone seems to care. We are, quite literally, committing national suicide.
Is it fair to say you flooded the system with money? Yes, that’s exactly what we did. When the government borrows money that must be repaid later, we’re sacrificing future prosperity for the sake of enjoying more prosperity now. We were $10 trillion in debt when Barack Obama took office, and now we’ve ballooned to $35 trillion. In doing so, we have destroyed the bright future that was supposed to belong to our children and grandchildren. This relentless borrowing has allowed us to maintain a standard of living far beyond what we actually deserve, but we’ve reached a point where economic conditions are steadily worsening, even as the government continues to pile up mountains of new debt.
Today, there are six major U.S. cities where earning around $200,000 a year only qualifies you for a middle-class lifestyle. San Francisco tops the list, where, under Pew Research's definition, a family earning more than $250,000 annually is still considered middle class. Washington, D.C. follows closely behind, where a household bringing in more than $230,000 would fall into the middle-class bracket. In Seattle, a household could earn as much as $214,000 per year and still be classified as middle income. Boston families earning over $200,000 could also be considered middle class. In New York City, with its high cost of living, a family making $183,000 per year would still be within the middle-class range, and in Los Angeles, households earning $175,000 annually would also be classified as middle class.
However, the vast majority of Americans will never make $200,000 a year; most are barely getting by. A recent survey found that 71% of U.S. adults are stressed about their ability to afford everyday expenses. Americans most frequently spend money on groceries, phone bills, utilities, gasoline, rent, and mortgage payments. Grocery bills frustrate Americans more than any other regular expense, followed by utilities, rent or mortgage payments, gasoline, and insurance payments. Unsurprisingly, younger generations are feeling the effects of inflation the hardest. Financial stress levels are highest among Millennials (77%), followed by Generation Z (75%), and Generation X (74%). Baby Boomers reported experiencing the least financial stress.
Shares of the Ford Motor Company recently nosedived by 18% in a single day following highly disappointing earnings results. Although Ford, which managed to avoid bankruptcy during the 2008-2009 crisis, is far from facing such a catastrophe now, this sharp decline serves as a stark reminder of the uphill battle automakers face for the rest of the year. As conditions worsen in the second half of this year and beyond, our leaders will likely try to stabilize the situation by doubling down on their current strategies. However, these efforts will only exacerbate the cost of living crisis and deepen our long-term issues. In fact, those long-term problems are quickly becoming immediate concerns. The entire system is shaking with tremors, and our bubble economy is slowly but surely heading toward an inevitable collapse. Thank you for watching.