Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell offered a sobering assessment of America’s fiscal health on Monday, telling a Harvard economics class that while the nation’s $39 trillion debt load is not immediately dangerous, the path the country is on demands urgent attention from lawmakers.
“The level of the debt is not unsustainable,” Powell said during a wide-ranging conversation before roughly 400 students, “but the path is not sustainable. It will not end well if we don’t do something fairly soon.”
The remarks extend a consistent warning Powell has sounded for years, that while the debt level is manageable in the short term, the fiscal trajectory is absolutely not. His comments also came as the average national gas price neared $4 per gallon amid a war in Iran that shows no signs of resolving soon, despite President Trump’s remarks about a potential end to hostilities.
https://fortune.com/2026/03/30/jerome-powell-39-trillion-national-debt-not-unsustainable-will-not-end-well/
Posted by fortune
6 Comments
Made all the worse by Trump’s and the GOP big tax breaks to billionaires and corporations, along with costly wars against Iran and immigrants
“not immediately dangerous”, lol
of course he’d say this. he’s was appointed in 2018, and national debt has risen from 22 trillion then to $39 trillion now. An 80% increase. on his watch
“not immediately dangerous”
He oversaw the most printing of dollars ever…but said nothing at the time. I mean, it’s a little late for warnings.
People that care already know. People that need to understand it (MAGA) will read that, ask Trump what their opinion should be, then call it fake news.
Either way, we are fucked.
Federal ponzi.
Stop giving tax breaks to billionaires and to these Fortune 500 companies