What this borrowing (and its related interest payments) will ultimately mean for the economy remains to be seen: Theories range from a market “reckoning” through to public investment being crowded out by spending on debt maintenance. Others suggest inflation will merely be allowed to rise, ultimately lowering the real value of the debt.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, however, is alarmed: The Wall Street veteran knows better than to predict when the issue may come to a head—but he is certain that the nation’s fiscal trajectory cannot be ignored forever.
“The best way to deal with the problem is to actually deal with the problem, to acknowledge it, to work on it,” Dimon told NPR’s Newsmakers podcast. “Years ago, we…