Posted on 05/23/2023 11:12:49 AM PDT by ransomnote
Net interest payments on the national debt rose from $352 billion in 2021 to $475 billion in 2022 — the highest nominal dollar amount in recorded history. Relative to the size of the economy, such costs were 1.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the highest level in 21 years.
Much of that increase was due to higher interest rates on U.S. Treasury securities. Although borrowing rose sharply over the past few years to address the COVID-19 pandemic, interest costs were muted as a result of low interest rates. However, as inflation rose to a 40-year high in 2022, the Federal Reserve increased the federal funds rate, a monetary policy tool used by the central bank to combat rising prices, seven times in that year. Those rate hikes, in addition to other factors, placed upward pressure on interest rates on U.S. Treasury securities. For example, interest rates on 3-month bills spiked from near zero in 2021 to 2.0 percent in 2022; rates on 10-year notes rose from an average of 1.4 percent in 2021 to 2.9 percent in 2022.
Interest rates on U.S. Treasury securities are expected to continue to rise over fiscal year 2023. Because of that, CBO projects that interest payments on the national debt will increase an additional 35 percent this year, to $640 billion. Those higher payments will contribute to an increase in debt held by the public of 6 percent in 2023.
(Excerpt) Read more at pgpf.org ...
Mine also. 🤑😲
Just wait until they add the $14 Trillion in reparations if some idiot will loan them the money
I know, let’s borrow even more money to pay the interest on the money we’ve already borrowed...
An oldie, but goodie. How Does the National Debt Affect Me?
First, approximately 17 cents out of every dollar of total tax revenue collected is immediately used merely to pay the burgeoning interest on the Federal debt. This is now surpassing the costs for our entire defense establishment, and it is exceeded only by the revenues needed to fund the total Medicare and Medicaid programs. (Ostensibly, Social Security is funded independently.) We are held hostage by this horrendous debt; 17 cents is the ransom to be paid out of every dollar we must cough up in taxes.
Thus, absolutely no governmental services or benefits are delivered in return for 17 percent of our total Federal tax bill. These are substantial funds that could most prudently be re-invested in the growth of our own business, but must be shoveled out instead simply to service the interest on the Federal debt. These substantial funds are diverted by Government fiat from potentially constructive economic investments in one's own enterprise into barren interest payments to the world of strangers who hold these obligations of the Treasury of the United States.
And secondly, the spending power of our present and potential customers would be increased dramatically if this sterile 17 percent of our total tax bill that is immediately swallowed by interest payments could only be freed for the purchase of goods and services. [Approximately half of all individual income taxes are required to pay the interest on the Federal debt.] While some of the recipients of these interest payments may recycle these funds into the purchase of domestic goods and services from emerging businesses, much of the Federal debt is held by foreigners. A substantial portion of the income of the average family of four is being devoured to pay the interest on this "family debt" equivalent to over $100,000. Thus, the Federal debt is a heavy drag on the economy, impeding job creation and entrepreneurial expansion as well as consumer spending on goods and services.
How does the national debt affect the owner/manager of the emerging business? It drains substantial funds out of the business that could otherwise be invested in job creation and entrepreneurial expansion. And it drains substantial funds out of consumers' pockets that could otherwise be available for the acquisition of goods and services. While it may not be observable, the national debt casts an oppressive pall upon the whole economy. And this burden inevitably impedes the growth and prosperity of the emerging business.
The US Deep-state, the bloated, woke/marxist, permanent fed.gov bureaucracy and their 10,000 social-engineering schemes exist ONLY on printed, fiat money - and the massive debt it allows.
It’s why I am hoping for a debt default now. It will be brutal and ugly, but its the only thing that will save the Republic.
Better now than later, before all remnants of Constitutional Government, States rights, local governance and 1st and 2nd Amendments are destroyed.
You are paying more in interest than what the military is costing you.
Not to worry, just print more money! Problem solved.
Oh, dear, the poor, poor Fed, having to suck up the bitter fruit of it’s own policies over last 20 years.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.