America’s US$40tr debt gamble is getting harder to ignore, economists say after ‘grow’ goal

With Washington claiming that the United States can “grow” out of its mounting fiscal burdens, some economists are sceptical that growth alone could absorb the country’s mountain of debt" class="entity-link entity-topic" data-entity-id="189129" data-entity-type="topic">national debt, which just surpassed US$40 trillion.The milestone, reached last week, has amplified concerns about the long-term sustainability of maintaining such a massive debt pile – one that has doubled in size from a decade ago.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the trajectory last week, telling CNBC that much of the spending had gone towards investments in factories and equipment, and that the country would “grow our way out of” that debt level.