CNBC: "US national debt has increased by more than 89% since the beginning of the pandemic"

The US national debt is approaching $33 trillion, with every year since 2001 the US government has spent more than it has taken in, so it has had to borrow money to make up the difference, according to CNBC.

Kris Mitchener, professor of economics at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business, said: "Debt has many useful purposes. Public debt has always been used for emergencies. It is easier to finance by borrowing than to burden the population with taxes".

According to CNBC, the US national debt has risen by more than 89% since the start of the pandemic, with many top economists agreeing that 2020 was not the time to worry about debt. But now that the worst of the public health emergency has passed, it's coming back to the forefront of how continued debt growth can hurt the economy.

"There are beneficial uses and harmful uses of debt," says William Gale, economist at the American think tank Brookings Institution, according to the American publication.

Michael Peterson, president and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, an organization dedicated to addressing the economic and fiscal sustainability challenges of the United States, says: "The problem is how it is used (the debt) and how much it is used. Unfortunately, we use it both on rainy days and on sunny days".

Economists report a nation's debt to its GDP, and in the case of the United States, the debt held by the public approaches 100 percent. Or, according to the Committee for Economic Development, a responsible debt-to-GDP ratio for a country the size of the United States would be 70%.

"Debt helps the economy because it can take large-scale initiatives, such as infrastructure," said Lori Esposito-Murray, Chair of the Committee. "It is possible to deal with crises such as the pandemic, but the debt/GDP ratio must be followed, because it is the indicator of stability, which shows whether the debt can really be honored or if the balance is tilted".

According to CNBC, paying off debt can become difficult when interest rates are high. Starting last March, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in an effort to slow economic activity. But, there are opinions that paying off debt at a high interest rate can actually stimulate the economy.

"The Fed is raising interest rates, which provides hundreds of billions of dollars in additional income to bondholders," said Stephanie Kelton, an economics professor at Stony Brook University. "Therefore, holders of government bonds paying higher interest rates have huge gains in the form of interest income, which can be spent like any other form of income," the economist added, quoted by CNBC.