The Debt Ceiling: A Threat to Long term Stability The United States has accumulated a staggering $22 trillion in debt over the past two years alone, with this trend dating back decades.
To put this into perspective, if every American owed around $67,000 – roughly their share of the national balance sheet – it would be equivalent to every household in the United States owing a collective sum equal to Norway's entire GDP.
The primary driver behind US debt accumulation is government spending, accounting for approximately 20% of GDP.