America’s alarming debt trap

The soaring US debt-to-GDP ratio could have major global consequences

LARRY SUMMERS, president emeritus of Harvard University and one of the world’s most prominent economists, is no stranger to controversy. But — in terms of provocation — three sentences in a speech last month to the Washington-based Peterson Institute must be described as egregious. To quote, “I would suggest that substantial and accumulating deficits and debts are a substantial threat to national security and national power … Budget deficits a decade out comfortably in double digits as a share of GDP now seem a reasonable projection … I think it is reasonable to ask the question: ‘How long can or will the world’s greatest debtor be able to maintain its position as the world’s greatest power?’” All countries have avid watchers of the American economic and political scene, and it…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, November 2023

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