"WASHINGTON — For decades, worries about the exploding national debt—now a staggering $31.3 trillion — were tempered by low interest rates that made it relatively cheap to keep borrowing.
But with interest rates rising rapidly, a long-feared debt crisis could be arriving soon.
Like a consumer grappling with a massive credit card balance, the federal government is paying more just for the interest on the national debt. Government projections show those interest costs tripling from $399 billion this year to $1.19 trillion in
2032. Borrowing most likely will have to increase just to pay for the higher interest expenses.
...
The rising interest payments could siphon money from government programs that invest in expanding the economy, such as scientific research and rebuilding infrastructure. That in turn could slow economic growth, which would lead to more deficit spending.
“It’s the termites under the front porch,” G. William Hoagland, the senior vice president at the centrist Bipartisan Policy Center think tank, said of the growing national debt. “They’re working away at it, you don’t see them, but one day you
step out on that porch and you go through it.”"
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/a-rapidly-growing-death-spiral-how-our-313-trillion-national-debt-is-getting-even-more-expensive/ar-AA15DxdO
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)