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Squawk Pod

CNBC Special Report: America's Deficit Reckoning 7/7/25

Squawk Pod

CNBC

Business News, Investing, Business, News

4494 Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

AMERICA’S DEFICIT RECKONING: What happens if the U.S. doesn’t rein in the budget deficit? CNBC Senior Finance & Banking Reporter Leslie Picker interviewed a dozen experts, investors and former government officials over the course of five months to explore the consequences of America’s fiscal path – not how to solve it, but what’s at stake if we don’t. This special report unpacks how rising debt threatens markets, hinders economic growth, and fractures international relations. From trillion-dollar annual interest payments to bond-market tremors to geopolitical vulnerability, CNBC explores the tipping point that the U.S. may be approaching – and whether it’s still possible to change course.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, I'm CNBC producer Cameron Costa.

0:07.5

Ahead is a podcast special you don't want to miss, called America's Deficit Reckoning.

0:14.1

What happens if the U.S. doesn't rain in the budget deficit?

0:18.6

CNBC's Leslie Picker has interviewed top economists, investors, and former government officials

0:24.4

to unpack the risks of America's unsustainable fiscal path.

0:29.4

This isn't just about how to fix it, but what could happen if we don't?

0:35.2

Take a listen.

0:39.0

There's no shortage of voices sounding the alarm about the national debt.

0:43.6

Our fiscal situation is a 350-pound two-pack-a-day smoker on the ICU table.

0:51.1

The U.S. federal budget is on an unsustainable path. We're going to be broke really quickly

0:57.8

unless we get serious about dealing with our spending issues. I do believe that fiscal policy

1:05.5

needs to be put on a sustainable course. The U.S.'s borrowing levels are currently the same size as the entire

1:12.5

economy and are expected to skyrocket from here. That's because America spends way more than it

1:17.9

brings in and then borrows to cover that deficit. And there's plenty of debate on how to close

1:23.0

that gap, raise taxes, cuts spending, a combination of both. No doubt. Any solution demands hard choices.

1:30.6

But what are the actual consequences if the deficit gets out of control?

1:35.7

I often liken this to the invisible dog fence where you really don't want to hit it,

1:40.5

but you won't know until you do. And it seems like the U.S. is almost intent on finding out

1:45.0

where that tipping point is. That's Maya McGinnis of the Committee for a responsible federal

1:49.1

budget. Business leaders, politicians, economists, investors, almost all share a common fear that

1:55.0

the U.S. is playing with fire when it comes to its deficit, but less clear what the actual ramifications look like if we reach

2:03.8

that tipping point. This is CNBC's goal here, to explore not how to fix the deficit, but rather

...

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