Explain it to MeWhy should I care about the national debt?Right now, the national debt hovers around $39 trillion (up from about $6 trillion in 2000). Split evenly, that’s about $113,000 per person in the US, kids included. It’s also larger than the country’s entire economy. How it affects you: As national debt rises, so do loan costs. Because if the US government has to pay more interest to reassure lenders, banks usually raise loan costs for everyone else too. Since 2015, higher interest rates have added roughly $76,000 to the average 30-year mortgage and about $120 more per year to car loans, according to Yale’s Budget Lab. At this point, the government pays a truly staggering amount in interest daily just to keep the lights on. From October 2025 through April 2026, the federal government spent more on interest on the national debt than it did to fund Medicare or Medicaid during the same period. And the more money that goes toward debt payments, the less budget flexibility there is for the stuff people actually feel day to day — lower taxes, cheaper borrowing, infrastructure, healthcare, disaster relief, and future economic safety nets. So, essentially, all the things that make living in a free society feel worth it. | 
