Is US debt sustainable?

Seems like a lot of experts like Ray Dalio are concerned about the rising burden of debt.

To put is simple, the US deficit as a percentage of GDP has basically doubled in the last 2 years, interest rates are increasing (and will stay higher for longer), de-dollarisation of FX reserves is also happening. So this will probably force the US to have permanently higher interest rates to fund itself, there-bye further increasing the burden of debt on the economy. The only way to get out of such a spiral would be for the FED to come in and print money to buy those bonds but that would cause a currency depreciation.  

Does the US really have to decrease its government deficit to avert this or is US debt sustainable, any opinions?

9 Comments
 

You fishing for silver bananas all the time with these posts or what?

 

Hi man, no I am genuinely interested in this question, especially since it is a theme that we will probably hear a lot about in the months and years to come; because there's a lot of speculation as to what normal interest rates will looks like in the future after the inflation saga is over. The era of zero percent interest seems unlikely to happen again.

 

Good point,  the US doesn't seem to be doing too bad at the moment relative to Europe or other countries for example all things considered. But the US has the 11th highest debt to GDP ratio in the world, behind countries like Venezuela, Greece, Soudan, Lebanon, Eritrea, Libya, & Italy. Like surely you can't just increase the debt to GDP ration infinitely, correct? It's gone from roughly 85% in 2010 to above 120% today. Or am I getting something wrong? Surely, the supply of debt needed to service can't keep growing without consequence?  

 

Praesentium odio rerum rerum doloremque quia. Iste et in odio corporis nam aut qui autem. Sit ipsum voluptas velit velit repellendus. Eum et aut est et voluptas. Quia sapiente beatae aliquid.

Dicta voluptatem vel doloribus temporibus. Nemo modi ipsa rerum corrupti rerum. Autem sit sunt earum.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (66) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”