The United States national debt has reached $40.1 trillion, a figure more than 4.5 times higher than the $8.9 trillion recorded the last time Treasury yields were at these levels. This represents a total debt expansion of $31.2 trillion since that previous period of comparable interest rates.
Because the debt principal has grown to $40.1 trillion, the fiscal impact of interest rates has intensified. Every one percentage point increase in the average cost of servicing this debt now results in a significantly larger financial obligation compared to when the total debt was under $9 trillion.