Earlier this week, when the US closed fiscal 2018 on September 30, we reported that US gross national debt jumped by $84 billion on September 28, the last business day of fiscal year 2018; with this last push higher, total gross national debt in fiscal 2018 rose by $1.271 trillion to an all time record of $21.52 trillion.

What is more stunning, is that only six months ago, on March 16, it had for the first time risen above the $21-trillion mark, while a year ago, at the end of September 2017, it was just $20.2 trillion.

The reason for the soaring debt total is, of course, the runaway US budget deficit, which while providing a temporary sugar rush to the US economy comes at a cost of explosive debt. As a reminder, one month ago, the CBO revised its forecast, and now expects the deficit will approach $1 trillion by the end of this fiscal year or one year sooner than disclosed in the CBO’s most recent forecast; in April the agency didn’t expect the deficit to reach $1 trillion until 2020.

Many have asked if any of this actually matters in the grand scheme of things. Last week Bloomberg published a piece titled “Skyrocketing Deficit? So What, Says New Washington Consensus” which explained  that neither Republicans nor Democrats are bothered by the devastating long-term trajectory of US debt, effectively making deficit hawks an extinct species:

In both parties, deficit spenders are gaining ground. That makes Year Two of the Trump administration look increasingly like end-times if you are, for example, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

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