The U.S. is drowning in debt and will be a sinking ship of debt by 2050s.

America’s debt pile has officially stepped over a line once considered unfathomable: the country now owes more than it produces in an entire year. US debt held publicly by March 31 reached a mammoth amount of $31.265 trillion, and consequently edged past annual GDP of $31.216 trillion, making it the first time since the aftermath of World War II.

But unlike 1946, when debt peaked at 106% of GDP and rapidly fell down owing to booming growth plus shrinking war expenditure, today's surge in debt looks more ominous and permanent. Back then, America had a young population and an untapped gold mine of industrial growth. 

Today, it faces a population that is aging, with rising entitlement obligations, and structural deficits in large amounts. The federal government is currently spending $1.33 for every dollar it collects in revenue, while annual deficits are hovering near 6% of GDP.

Beyond the harrowing news of insurmountable debt, the most alarming part about it is not the debt itself; it’s rather the cost of carrying it.  Just to service its debt, the US now spends more than it does on either Medicare or national defense, with net interest payments annually surpassing a threshold of $1 trillion. To be more precise, basically one in every seven federal dollars now goes toward interest payments alone.

On further inspection this trajectory continues getting steeper following the projection made by the Congressional Budget Office that debt held by the public will likely reach a new landmark of $53 trillion by 2036. Meanwhile debt-to-GDP is expected to climb to 120% by 2036, and the more years pass by the worse it will get potentially 175% by 2056.

For now, US Treasuries still hold the title of the world’s safest asset in the eyes of investors. But America’s “exorbitant privilege”, depends heavily on global confidence which as history tells us goes away faster when debt accumulates. The real danger isn’t whether this ship sinks tomorrow. What's more concerning is that Washington keeps punching holes below the deck and assumes water will never rise.