To pay off the federal debt in half a century will require slashing spending NOW by 50%.
That not happening, keep a very close eye on ratio of debt service to revenue. That’s already dangerously high, and rising between inflation and ever-increasing spending.
Some people with very deep pockets have an interest in keeping the fedgov in debt, to receive consistent large interest payments. They have influence to ensure the debt is never paid off ... problem is, if debt service approaches 100% of revenue (and likely a much smaller fraction, I’m still grasping it), default is inevitable.
default is inevitable.
In our lifetime, we have witnessed a major world power go bankrupt.