SCOUT· 40%29m·2026-09-23·BusinessIs our national debt finally too much? (update)
(Note: A version of this episode originally ran in 2024.) $40,000,000,000,000. Four commas. Thirteen zeroes. It’s an eye-popping, almost infinite-sounding pile of money. And every time the debt passes a big round number, almost everyone asks the same question: How much debt is too much? It’s maybe the most important…
Scout bees are checking it out — divided opinions, the swarm hasn't committed.
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What people are saying
“The problem is that the line for 'too much debt' changes based on other world and economic events. You can't predict it. And when the bad times come you need some room on the national credit card to have room to respond. We don't have any r…”
“The US federal debt is the least impactful. There's 10-20 times more private debt leveraged to infinity and beyond that will begin to unravel shortly as the GFC gets rolling.”
“Always ask these basic questions when the national debt is discussed.. I dummed them down for ease of understanding: 1. Who owns all our stuff? 2. How did they get access to all our stuff? 3. Why are we letting them put us into debt as indi…”
“Seriously. It was how many trillion when The Clown started another war and gave huge tax breaks to the top 10 percent and illegally imposed tariffs on dozens of countries. Welfare for the 10 percent, debt for the rest.”
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