High interest rates could balloon the national debt
· 25 min
Episode High interest rates could balloon the national debt
What happens to government debt, the budget deficit, and the overall economy if interest rates stay elevated? For a new report, the Congressional Budget Office crunched the numbers. By 2056, public debt would grow to an eye-popping 222% of GDP. Plus: Trump administration cuts decimated soil conservation programs, a new report highlights the impact of private equity investments on climate risk, and an uneventful Trump-Xi summit ends with a promise of more talks to come.
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Read the stories in today’s episode:
• TTYL? Trump-Xi talks end without much to show • What happens to the deficit and the national debt if interest rates stay high? • U.S. farmers lost conservation experts in Trump’s federal cuts. Now they’re hurting for help • Private equity gets a grade on climate risks
Links in the notes 7
- https://www.marketplace.org/newsletters
- https://www.marketplace.org/
- https://www.marketplace.org/make-a-smart-investment
- https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/09/25/the-trumpxi-summit-in-washington-dc-wraps-up
- https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/09/25/what-high-interest-rates-do-to-the-national-debt
- https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/09/25/trump-cuts-to-conservation-agency-leaves-farmers-high-and-dry
- https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/09/25/how-private-equity-impacts-the-environment
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