Perhaps the least surprising news story in recent days concerned the fact that the nation’s gross national debt passed the $37 trillion mark.

Least surprising — and probably the most overlooked.

Yes, as recently as 2020 , the Congressional Budget Office predicted this milestone wouldn’t happen until 2030, but that was before the pandemic, stimulus checks for everyone and other spending bills. This year’s budget package, signed into law by President Trump, is projected by the CBO to add $4.1 trillion to the total over 10 years.

These figures tend to be overlooked for two reasons. The first is that, so far at least, overspending hasn’t visibly affected the economy. Unemployment is at 4.2% nationally . Inflation has been an irritant, but it has been hovering at about 2.7% recently

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