Musk says US going bankrupt ‘extremely quickly’
The interest payments on the US national debt have exceeded the US defence budget, says Elon Musk. - REUTERS/Filepic
WASHINGTON: US billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk believes that the United States is going bankrupt 'extremely quickly', reported Sputnik.
"America is going bankrupt extremely quickly," Musk said during a discussion on the All-In Podcast on Monday.
The interest payments on the US national debt have exceeded the US defence budget, Musk said, noting that the US owes over a trillion dollars a year just in interest.
The US national debt currently stands at about US$35 trillion, according to the US Treasury Department.
The US has been in a state of chronic excess of expenditures over income for almost a century; the last time there was a long period of surplus was from 1920 to 1930. The only US leader after World War II with a budget surplus was Harry Truman (1946-1950), and the largest government spending surplus was under Ronald Reagan at US$1.34 trillion.
The US finances such a gigantic budget deficit from the national debt, which in July for the first time exceeded the US$35 trillion mark, and just two weeks later grew by another US$160 billion.
-- BERNAMA
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