[hn_throwaway_99]

> And, if you look at inflation-adjusted metrics, that growth is very minor.

Baloney. Take a look at a graph of US federal deficit as a percentage of GDP. In 2018 the deficit was 3.8% of GDP, in 2019 it's expected to be 5.1%. If those were the values during a recession, that would be understandable, but during what is supposed to be a "great, amazing" economy, those structurally high values is what scares people.

[vkou]

I'm not disagreeing that the US is going into too much debt in the current economic climate. The current administration is starving future ones of the tools that can be used to deal with a recession.

However, you'll notice that the debt/gdp ratio has been stable for the past 5 years, or so.