The Loch Ness Monster...

A city built on gold.

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1. The gross national debt exceeded $32 trillion for the first time yesterday, underscoring the country’s unsettling fiscal trajectory as Washington gears up for another fight over government spending. A Treasury Department report noted the milestone weeks after Congress agreed to suspend the nation’s statutory debt limit, ending a months-long standoff. The $32 trillion mark arrived nine years sooner than pre-pandemic forecasts had projected, reflecting the trillions of dollars of emergency spending to address Covid-19’s impact along with a run of sluggish economic growth. Republicans and Democrats have expressed concern about the nation’s debt, but neither party has shown an appetite to tackle its biggest drivers, such as spending on Social Security and Medicare. (Source: nytimes.com, italics mine)

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