Jerome Powell Sounds Alarm: US Debt Growing “Substantially” Faster Than Economy — “It Will Not End Well”

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned at Stanford that U.S. debt is growing substantially faster than the economy and urged action.

U.S. gross national debt exceeded $38–39 trillion and debt held by the public is about 100–101% of GDP in early 2026.

The CBO projects debt held by the public could reach about 120% of GDP by 2036 and possibly 175% by 2056 under current policies.

Powell said fiscal policy is outside the Fed's mandate but stressed policymakers should address rising deficits and interest costs fairly soon.