The simple fact is you can’t grow your way out of debt when the debt’s increasing faster than gross domestic product (GDP). For example, in 2000 the federal debt was about $5.6 trillion and real U.S. GDP was about $12.5 trillion. Today the federal debt is over $20.6 trillion and real U.S. GDP is about $17 trillion.
In just 18 years the federal debt has increased by over 265 percent while real U.S. GDP has increased just 36 percent. This, by all practical means, is the opposite of an economy that’s growing its way out of debt.
