Episode
Can Anyone Solve America’s $40 Trillion Debt Problem?
- Podcast
- KQED's Forum
- Published
- Sep 3, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3285
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC5624664110.mp3
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/kqed-s-forum-910728/episodes/can-anyone-solve-america-s-40-trillion-debt-problem/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/kqed-s-forum-910728/can-anyone-solve-america-s-40-trillion-debt-problem.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
At this week’s G20 summit in Asheville, N.C., global finance leaders met amid a bond sell-off that threatened to raise the cost of long-term borrowing and upend global economic stability. That comes as the US national debt officially topped $40 trillion — a record high that’s double what it was a decade ago, raising serious concerns for some economists. With the nation’s spiraling debt showing no signs of slowing, is it too late to avoid a U.S. fiscal cliff catastrophe? We talk to economic experts about the current and future impacts, and whether there’s a solution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices