{"slug": "why-americas-debt-binge-is-starting-to-matter", "title": "Why America’s debt binge is starting to matter", "summary": "The U.S. government's persistent budget deficits, which have been a concern since the 1970s, are now approaching a critical point as long-term interest rates threaten to breach the 5% threshold, a level that could derail the AI boom, according to a recent analysis. The article notes that past warnings about national debt, symbolized by the Times Square debt clock, have not materialized, but the current fiscal trajectory may finally have consequences.", "body_md": "THE BOTTOM LINE\n\n# Why America’s debt binge is starting to matter\n\nIf long-term interest rates decisively breach the 5% threshold, the impact can derail the AI boom\n\n[WASHINGTON] Doomsday warnings about America’s rising debt date back to the 1970s, when the US government began running persistent budgetary deficits.\n\nLate in the next decade, a worried New York real estate developer placed the “national debt clock” in Times Square.\n\nNone of the warnings materialised, so like the boy who cried wolf, they became background noise, easy to ignore. Now, as in the fable, the wolf is approaching the door.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-americas-debt-binge-is-starting-to-matter", "canonical_source": "https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion-features/why-americas-debt-binge-starting-matter", "published_at": "2026-09-07 08:58:54+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-07 10:00:09.751369+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy"], "entities": ["U.S. government", "Times Square"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-americas-debt-binge-is-starting-to-matter", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-americas-debt-binge-is-starting-to-matter.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-americas-debt-binge-is-starting-to-matter.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-americas-debt-binge-is-starting-to-matter.jsonld"}}