Tax Lawyer's Blog

That’s a lot of zeros.

Jeanne Sahadi of CNNMoney.com writes about the interest portion of the national debt:

Here’s a new way to think about the U.S. government’s epic borrowing: More than half of the $9 trillion in debt that Uncle Sam is expected to build up over the next decade will be interest.

More than half. In fact, $4.8 trillion.

If that’s hard to grasp, here’s another way to look at why that’s a problem.

In 2015 alone, the estimated interest due – $533 billion – is equal to a third of the federal income taxes expected to be paid that year, said Charles Konigsberg, chief budget counsel of the Concord Coalition, a deficit watchdog group.

Konigsberg’s observation should make you shudder because it confirms what many economists predict. This absurdly monstrous national debt will inevitably bring absurdly confiscatory tax rates.

By the way, I love Sahadi’s phrase “epic borrowing.” Maybe Cecil B. Demille could reincarnate and direct the movie version.

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