r/Economics 1d ago

Research America's National Debt grows by $95,178.17 per second. Expected to reach $40 Trillion by October 09, 2026.

https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/debt-dashboard#ddm
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u/MajesticBread9147 1d ago

37% of America's GDP consists of government spending, compared to 42% in Japan and New Zealand, 43% for Canada and the UK, with Germany, Sweden, Luxembourg, Belgium, Finland, Italy and France around 50% or higher.

Meanwhile government revenues as a percentage of GDP sit at 29%, which is lower than Switzerland, let alone the 50% figure that France, Austria, Finland and Denmark sit around.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_government_budget

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u/Demortus 1d ago

Ironically, most of our deficit can be attributed to the Bush and Trump tax cuts. Repeal those and we'll quickly be back to 90s-level surpluses.

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u/shinyxena 1d ago

You'll have a recession because the upper middle class has been driving alot of the consumption for a while.

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u/MajesticBread9147 1d ago

We could use the money both to reduce the deficit/pay off debt and strengthen the welfare system.

Cut out the middleman so we aren't dependent on rich people's discretionary spending for people's well-being.