Why Bessent’s “Grow Your Way Out” Debt Strategy Is A Mathematical Fantasy

Sustaining long-term U.S. GDP growth without boosting productivity is a mathematical fantasy. The United States has hit a historic fiscal precipice. Publicly held national debt has breached 100% of gross domestic product (GDP), and gross national debt has soared past $40 trillion. In response, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and administration officials have pitched an alluring escape hatch: growing the economy out of the crunch. By targeting a sustained 3% annual GDP growth rate, the administr…