The US' national debt has grown significantly, particularly during the 2008 global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerns over a potential debt crisis have been voiced repeatedly, particularly during reoccurring legislative debates to raise the debt ceiling. Despite this, the US has had very low interest rates since 2010, both encouraging the US to continue borrowing at cheap rates, and signalling that lenders consider the US government to be a reliable and safe borrower.

If this were to escalate into a criss, the US could be so far behind on its debt that the IMF would be called upon to forgive some of their debt. Notably, the IMF provided debt service for Greece in 2011 and for multiple Latin American Nations in the 1980s.