Catholic Candle note: Below is an update written in late January 2025, concerning the dire condition of the U.S. Government’s fiscal condition and, by analogy, the fiscal condition of the governments of other Western countries which are trending in the same direction. 

For reference, here is an earlier assessment and how the leftists hide the truth: The Condition of the U.S. Economy compared to Leftist Spin about the Economy.  This article can be found here: https://catholiccandle.org/2024/03/21/the-u-s-economy-compared-to-leftist-spin-about-the-economy/

Catholic Candle usually writes on topics more directly related to the Catholic Faith, as well as Catholic philosophy and Catholic practice.  But there is an ongoing cultural and political revolution all around us, and this revolution has other aspects too.  That is why we also cover topics that could be called “political”, in order to shine a light on current evils in government and society as well as (in the present article) to highlight the leftist lie that the U.S. is in a strong economic condition.

The United States is being ruined in many ways, especially morally.  But besides this moral ruin, the U.S. is being ruined financially by the enemies of the U.S. (inside and outside of the country), who seek to destroy its economy through extreme overspending, and to promote socialism through handing out government freebees of every description and in every direction. 

The U.S. Government is moving the nation toward the socialist posture where money and decisions are increasingly controlled by the government and where the government increasingly spends money that it does not have (with strings attached) to promote socialism and to corrupt the nation. 

Below is government data showing recent progress made in increasing U.S. economic instability and increasing government insolvency.

In the graphs below, it is a little hard to see the exact numbers that we give in the text of this article.  But those precise numbers are available online by using the links we include below the graphs and then hovering with your cursor over the lines shown in those graphs.  These graphs prominently say “FRED” on their upper left-hand corner, because they are from the U.S. Federal Reserve and “FRED” is an acronym meaning “Federal Reserve Economic Data”.

The U.S. National Debt

The U.S. National Debt has almost doubled in ten years – from about $17.8 trillion in the third quarter of 2014 to $35.5 trillion in the third quarter of 2024.  (This is the latest ten year period available when this article was being written in late January, 2025.)

The data and graph (above) are from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and can be found here: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEBTN

Interest on the U.S. National Debt

The interest that the U.S. Government pays on this National Debt is now more than $1.1 trillion per year (as of the third quarter of 2024, which is the latest data available when this article was being written in late January, 2025).  This is approximately a 262% increase in U.S. interest obligations in the last ten years.  (The total interest obligation in the third quarter 2014 was $442 billion.)

This annual interest obligation (on the U.S. national debt), is now 250% larger than the entire annual federal deficit[1] (then $441 billion.[2]) ten years ago (in 2015).

The data and graph are from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and can be found here: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A091RC1Q027SBEA

A New “Permanent” Higher Level of Annual Government Spending

The Government continues to spend at a reckless rate and way beyond its means.  Even ignoring the spikes in excess spending during the period of the Covid alarmism, the U.S. government spending continues to trend dramatically upward, going from about $3.9 trillion per year to about $7 trillion per year over a period of ten years.

This data and graph are taken from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and can be found here: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FGEXPND

Conclusion

The U.S. National Debt is accelerating.  The huge and increasing interest payments exacerbate this problem.  Meanwhile, the U.S. Government makes it worse by continuing to spend way beyond its means.

Dear Reader, notice this parallel: our society is ever more unreasonable and unrestrained in its evil decisions on moral matters.  Similarly, our society is ever more unreasonable and unrestrained in its evil decisions on fiscal matters also.

The use of reason and restrain would solve everything in the moral, social, and the economic spheres.  Truly, the virtue of Prudence and living the Catholic life are the answers to all of society’s problems, even those economic ones!

The grave condition of our nation is a reminder to pray harder for our country.  We should add this intention to our daily prayers.  Our course, despite our country’s problems, we should not be anxious.  Although God can do all things, it seems that the worsening condition of our country and the human element of the Church will probably not be solved until the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart.  Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini!