India, Aug. 21 -- The US once appeared to be on track to eliminate its debt. In 2001, the US government had recorded a budget surplus for four straight years. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had even projected that the national debt could effectively fall to zero by 2009.

That prediction did not come true. Instead of falling to zero, US national debt continued to rise. The debt reached $10 trillion in 2008 and then quadrupled over the next 18 years, crossing $40 trillion in 2026.

The US has moved from surpluses to large and regular deficits. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) said the US had a 1.2% budget surplus in 2001, but now runs deficits of around 6% of the economy. Marc Goldwein, senior vice president at ...