Yes, but not since the 1980’s. This started with intensity in 1968, when we reached the point of borrowing one dollar for every dollar of GDP.
LBJ and “The Great Society” on top of all the other Socialist and Keynesian programs is what hastened this inevitable bankruptcy.
“This started with intensity in 1968”
Bingo. JFK & LBJ, IIRC spent the very last real surplus we had. By 1973, the devaluation and unpegging from gold instantly set in motion what we see now as an unbacked scrip form of ‘currency.’