ESGI Financial President and CIO Ed Siddell discusses the nation’s consumer debt predicament and analyzes the gold trade on ‘Varney & Co.’
The U.S. national debt topped $33 trillion for the first time ever on Monday, crossing a critical milestone at a time when government spending is already under scrutiny.
The national debt – which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors — hit $33.04 trillion as of Monday afternoon, according to new data published by the Treasury Department. By comparison, just four decades ago, the national debt hovered around $907 billion.
“The United States has hit a new milestone that no one will be proud of: our gross national debt just surpassed $33 trillion,” said Maya MacGuineas, the president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “Debt held by the public, meanwhile, recently surpassed $26 trillion. We are becoming numb to these huge numbers, but it doesn’t make them any less dangerous.”
US NATIONAL DEBT TRACKER: SEE HOW MUCH THE GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS COST
The historic debt level comes as Congress races to avert a government shutdown at the end of September.
House Republicans unveiled a short-term plan late Sunday to that would temporarily fund the government through