‘There is no silver lining in this trajectory’: Budget watchdog warns of financial, inflation, or currency crisis due to $39 trillion U.S. debt

As U.S. national debt trips over the $39 trillion mark, calls for targets on government borrowing are increasing, as budget watchdogs warn the nation’s fiscal trajectory is increasingly unstable.

Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), appeared before the House Budget Committee yesterday to make the case for why the government—now or in the future—should commit to a benchmark of a deficit-to-GDP at 3%.

According to the St. Louis Fed, that figure currently stands at 6%...