Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
Tuesday, August 25, 2026

U.S. debt hasn't been further downgraded, breakeven rates on inflation-protected bonds haven't spiked, and the cost of insuring against a federal default hasn't skyrocketed, signs that most investors still see U.S. bonds as a largely risk-free bet even if they have been demanding higher interest rates. That's the good news.

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More from the article ...

... Not so great is that developments in recent weeks have put U.S. federal debts and deficits in the broader context of an emerging era of higher global interest rates, stiffer competition for the next dollar of lending, and global geopolitical and demographic headwinds that other countries are also confronting. There may not be a crisis tomorrow, but the idea of a cliff somewhere in the future seems more tangible, a point implicit in Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's sudden openness to active intervention to try to cap yields on long-term bonds.

Here are some reasons why this moment seems different:

ECONOMIC GROWTH HAS FALLEN BEHIND BORROWING

From World War Two until the late 2010s, U.S. debt dynamics were helped by the fact that the economy in general grew faster than federal debt, which helped keep borrowing contained relative to the size of the nation's output of goods and services.

That relationship began to shift due to the spending used to counter the 2007-2009 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic roughly a decade later.

The sweeping tax cuts pushed by President Donald Trump and passed by the Republican-controlled Congress in his first and second terms in the White House exacerbated the deficits, adding to the total debt pile.

DEFICITS ARE AT RECESSION LEVELS ...



#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-08-25 08:23 PM | Reply

 

@#1 ... ECONOMIC GROWTH HAS FALLEN BEHIND BORROWING ...

Yeah, imo, that is significant.

This graph puts that view into perspective ...

Economic growth falls behind federal borrowing
www.reuters.com

So, around 2016 or so, the Federal Debt started to grow more quickly than the economic growth.

imo, worth noting.

#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-08-25 08:28 PM | Reply

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