“This is a crisis,” visionary billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk declared Wednesday, reacting to news that the U.S. public debt had increased by nearly a half-trillion dollars in just three weeks.
Musk issued the warning on his X.com social media platform in response to a post by The Kobeissi Letter explaining the severity and danger of the rapid growth of the already-daunting national debt.
In its Tuesday post, Kobeissi notes that, “over the last three weeks alone,” the total national debt:
- Jumped by $473 billion.
- Increased by $1,450 for every American.
- Rose to a record $35.8 trillion, hitting an all-time high average of $103,700 per American.
“This is unsustainable. America is in the fast lane to bankruptcy,” Kobessi concludes in its post.
Indeed, U.S. Treasury statistics back up Kobeissi report that the nation’s federal debt recorded an alarming increase during a mere three-week period. From September 27 to October 21, total U.S. debt rose by nearly a half-trillion dollars, jumping from $35.3 trillion to $35.8 trillion.
The $473 billion three-week increase represents a fifth of the total Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 growth of $2.3 trillion.
That 1.3% increase in three weeks, if sustained for an entire year, would more than double the 6.9% increase in debt recorded in FY2024, which ended on September 30.
In FY2024, the national debt represented 124% of the county’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
What’s more, the interest paid by the U.S. to finance its ever-growing debt is a significant factor exacerbating the nation’s budgetary problem.
In FY2024 – for the first time ever – the U.S. paid more than a trillion dollars ($1.16 trillion) in annual interest on its debt. That comes out to an average of $3,360 per American, according to Kobeissi.
This is a crisis https://t.co/eKiURgMz2y
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 23, 2024