How Did America Get $40 Trillion in Debt?

This week, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Nick Gillespie are joined by Reason Senior Editor Robby Soave to discuss the national debt hitting $40 trillion and whether decades of fiscal irresponsibility are finally beginning to have consequences. They examine how the debt doubled in less than a decade, why federal spending continues to outpace revenue, and whether turmoil in the bond market could force politicians to take deficits seriously. They also consider why both parties abandoned the fiscal restraint that helped produce balanced budgets in the 1990s and what it would take to reverse course.

The editors also discuss President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war with Canada and his administration’s refusal to return tariff revenue collected illegally, the growing bipartisan backlash against AI data centers, and whether economic growth can realistically help America escape its debt problem. They examine the government’s case against Meta and the latest effort to blame social media for harms to children, then turn to calls for restrictions on journalists following the death of Cambridge professor Jason Arday. Finally, a listener asks whether AI could shrink the federal workforce and dramatically reduce the cost of government.

0:00—National debt hits $40 trillion

15:26—Canadian trade war intensifies

26:37—Backlash to data centers

41:52—Listener question on AI and the federal workforce

53:27—Jason Arday and speech regulations

1:03:08—Weekly cultural recommendations

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The Reason Roundtable’s 10th Anniversary—Live in NYC! October 7

Mentioned in the podcast:

“$40 Trillion and Parents’ Night Out,” by Liz Wolfe

“Why We Need To Shrink the National Debt, and Fast!” by Nick Gillespie

Nick Gillespie on X: “For those of us concerned about national debt, here is federal spending and revenue expressed as pct. of GDP and per capita in 2017 dollars. We are spending too much, not taxing too little.”

“How many civilian jobs are in the US federal government?” by USA Facts

“Trump Imposes Harmful and Illegal Section 338 Tariffs Against Many Canadian Imports,” by Ilya Somin

“Bad Reasons and Worse Reasons to Hate Data Centers,” by Robby Soave

“Data Centers Are Doing Your Dirty Work for You,” by Christian Britschgi

“Sen. Ed Markey doesn’t know what AI he is using,” by Taylor Lorenz

“Censors Seize on Jason Arday’s Death as Excuse To Demand More Censorship,” by Reem Ibrahim

“Tony Is an Anthony Bourdain Origin Story,” by Peter Suderman

“Travel Shows Were Boring as Fuck. Then Came Anthony Bourdain,” by Todd Krainin