This week, the official public debt of the federal government of the United States hit $38 trillion. Many reports noted that it came quickly after hitting the $37 trillion mark, that it came during the federal shutdown, and that only during the pandemic did debt accumulate faster:
Reports were widely published, but were they widely read? Is this just ho hum?
This space last hosted news on debt accumulation markers in the trillions in mid-June. About two months later, the U.S. gross national debt surpassed $37 trillion (August 11, 2025), according to the U.S. Treasury Department’s daily financial report. This milestone came years earlier than the Congressional Budget Office’s 2020 projections, which had anticipated it after fiscal year 2030.
Seeking to illustrate the increased frequency of debt accumulation milestones, we offer this (with help from Grok):
The Peter G. Peterson Foundation has a number of graphs related to the subject:
