Fed chair Jerome Powell says government is on 'unsustainable fiscal path'

Federal Reserve Chair System board of governors chair Jerome Powell noted during an interview for "60 Minutes" that in the long term, the government is on an "unsustainable fiscal path," which he explained "means that the debt is growing faster than the economy."

Interviewer Scott Pelley suggested that Powell is worried about the issue.

"Over the long run, of course it does," Powell said, acknowledging his concern. He noted that "effectively we're borrowing from future generations."

According to fiscaldata.treasury.gov, the country's national debt is currently more than $34.1 trillion.

Powell said regarding staples such as bread, milk, and eggs, "Prices are substantially higher than they were before the pandemic," adding, "we think that's a big reason why people ... have been relatively dissatisfied with what is otherwise a pretty good economy."

In a post on X, Peter Schiff declared, "When it comes to our dire fiscal situation, #Powell is wrong. We're not just on an unsustainable path. We've already arrived at an unsustainable destination. As with Wile E. Coyote, we've already run past the edge of the fiscal cliff. It's just that we haven't looked down yet."

Some U.S. lawmakers have been sounding the alarm about the country's ever-expanding debt.

"Our deteriorating fiscal health and our ballooning national debt pose the greatest threat to American economic security," GOP Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa declared in a social media post. "Our national debt is over $34 trillion. We need to stop borrowing money from our enemies, stop printing money out of thin air, and stop spending money that we don't have," he had noted in another post.

"Reminder: the U.S. is over $34.1 TRILLION in national debt. Our country cannot continue down this debt death spiral," GOP Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina noted.