U.S. national debt keeps snowballing

Cartoon by Ma Hongliang

The latest statistics released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury showed that the gross national debt of the U.S. exceeded $32 trillion for the first time, according to The New York Times on June 16, 2023.

The $32 trillion mark arrived nine years earlier than previous forecasts had projected, the article pointed out.

The U.S. government hit its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling on Jan. 19 this year. After a months-long dogfight between the country's two major political parties, U.S. President Joe Biden officially signed a bill that lifted the federal government's debt ceiling on June 3, temporarily resolving the U.S. government's "crisis" of a debt default. This represented the 103rd adjustment to the country's national debt ceiling since the end of World War II.

The snowballing debts of the U.S. federal government are a result of the long-term intractable disagreement and finger-pointing between the two political parties over fiscal issues. Bills that constantly lift the government's debt limit cannot fundamentally solve problems confronting the country. The U.S. government still has to face financial challenges in the long run.