Why is the U.S. indebted to $37 trillion and can afford 11 aircraft carriers? we are all fooled, the U.S. debt to $37 trillion is no longer an astronomical number, it is a cosmic number.
The United States owes $38 trillion in debt, which is so large that it can buy the earth several times, but it can still keep 11 aircraft carriers wandering at sea? This sounds mysterious. What's the trick behind it?
The U.S. federal debt has been rising steadily in recent years, and as of October 23, 2025, it has officially crossed the threshold of US$38 trillion. This data comes from a real-time report from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which is equivalent to piling up the annual economic sum of several medium-sized countries around the world. Imagine that analysts at the Congressional Budget Office stare at the report every day, and the debt-to-GDP ratio is approaching 135%, a lot higher than at the end of World War II. Wall Street traders are busy watching treasury bond auctions. Buyers from foreign central banks like Japan and China have to reserve some US dollar reserves to stabilize the exchange rate, and just keep pouring money into it.
This debt accumulation didn't fall from the sky. Since the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, the US dollar has been pegged to gold, and representatives of various countries signed agreements there, establishing its reserve currency status. By 1971, the Nixon administration suspended the dollar against gold, and as soon as the TV news was broadcast, there was a lot of international uproar. But the dollar did not fall, but relied on the petrodollar mechanism to gain a firm foothold. All crude oil transactions in the Middle East have to be settled in U.S. dollars. Tankers go one by one, and the dollar symbol shines on the settlement statement. This system makes the cost of borrowing money in the United States ridiculously low, and the US dollar accounts for more than 80% of global trade. According to the report of the Bank for International Settlements, cross-border payments basically cannot get around it.
The size of the U.S. economy is true, in the second quarter of 2025 GDP will be $7.1 trillion, the entire year is expected to be $28 trillion. The military budget is about 3%, not much, can be placed in such a large dish, enough to hold a huge navy. The high debt should make the fiscal tight, but the dollar's privilege is like a buffer pad, officials in the central bank buildings review reserves reports, must buy a bit of U.S. debt security and exchange rate stability. Tokyo's buyers order through electronic platforms, Beijing's Foreign Exchange Administration is also moderately arranged, these foreign flows into the U.S. share the pressure. In the first half of 2025, U.S. debt auction foreign holders accounted for 30%, although less than the peak,
Speaking of these 11 aircraft carriers, the U.S. Navy will maintain this lineup in 2025. Each is a nuclear-powered behemoth and can carry more than 70 F-35 fighter jets. The ranking of World Population Review shows that the United States monopolizes 11 large aircraft carriers, and a total of only about 50 are in service worldwide. In an August 2025 statement, Navy officials reiterated that the level of 11 ships and nine air wings authorized by Congress must be maintained. Building a Ford-class aircraft carrier costs more than $12 billion, and modules are assembled one by one in the drydock at the Newport News Shipyard. After serving, with annual maintenance costs of US$4 billion, the maintenance shed at the Norfolk base was busy.
The dollar hegemony is key, the U.S. Treasury auctioned state bonds, Japanese pension funds and Chinese export companies indirectly injected funds to buy Boeing parts. The U.S. Federal Reserve pressed interest rates at around 4%, the average earnings rate in 2025 was only 2.8% and interest spending was controlled within $1 trillion. The military industry pushed, from Lockheed Martin's warplanes production line to the Texas Steel Plant, the chain stretched and hired more than 2 million workers. Enterprise executives lobbied in Congress mountains, with satellite photos of Iran's threats, pushing the defense budget for the fiscal year 2025 down $8.98 billion.
Aircraft carriers not only spend money, but also help make money. They patrol the Persian Gulf and Asia-Pacific, guarding oil lines and trade channels. According to data from the Energy Administration, in 2025, the US dollar settlement of crude oil trade will account for 88%, the merchant fleet will pass safely, Apple chips will be shipped from Taiwan to the West Coast, American companies will earn trillions a year, and tax revenue will return to the state treasury. After Congress passed the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, the budget was directly invested in the next generation of aircraft carriers, and designers optimized the electromagnetic ejection system. In this way, military spending forms a cycle: the budget supports military industry, employment pulls political support, and the aircraft carrier shares the pie.
This model looks stable, but the actual risk is not small. Global de-dollarization is accelerating. In 2025, the U.S. dollar index will fall by 9.5%, and the price of gold will exceed $3,900 an ounce. The Asian central bank switched to RMB settlement, and Saudi Arabia signed a local currency agreement with Brazil, weakening the attractiveness of U.S. debt. According to the analysis of the Atlantic Council, the dominance of the US dollar makes the debt sustainability of the United States 22% higher, but if foreign capital reduces its holdings and interest rates rise to 5%, military spending will have to be tightened. The report of the Federal Reserve acknowledges that the status of the US dollar depends on the size of the US economy and trade openness. Emerging market countries can try local currency swaps in trade agreements, and the settlement system under the BRICS mechanism can be tested and operated to avoid US dollar intermediaries.
From our China perspective, this has to be treated dialectically. The United States relies on hegemony to borrow debt, maintain unilateralism, and interfere with global fair trade. But China, as a responsible big country, promotes the "Belt and Road" construction of interconnectivity, and the transboundary payment ratio of the RMB has risen to 4%. This has not only stabilized the exchange rate of developing countries, but also added BRICS to the multi-polar world. The International Monetary Fund seminar noted that the dollar network effect is strong, but the supply chain of companies from New York to Shanghai is gradually diversifying.
In the long run, the U.S. debt imbalance will test its leadership, the world will win-win cooperation, and the U.S. aircraft carrier will not be able to stop the trend of the times.
The United States owes $38 trillion in debt, which is so large that it can buy the earth several times, but it can still keep 11 aircraft carriers wandering at sea? This sounds mysterious. What's the trick behind it?
The U.S. federal debt has been rising steadily in recent years, and as of October 23, 2025, it has officially crossed the threshold of US$38 trillion. This data comes from a real-time report from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which is equivalent to piling up the annual economic sum of several medium-sized countries around the world. Imagine that analysts at the Congressional Budget Office stare at the report every day, and the debt-to-GDP ratio is approaching 135%, a lot higher than at the end of World War II. Wall Street traders are busy watching treasury bond auctions. Buyers from foreign central banks like Japan and China have to reserve some US dollar reserves to stabilize the exchange rate, and just keep pouring money into it.
This debt accumulation didn't fall from the sky. Since the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, the US dollar has been pegged to gold, and representatives of various countries signed agreements there, establishing its reserve currency status. By 1971, the Nixon administration suspended the dollar against gold, and as soon as the TV news was broadcast, there was a lot of international uproar. But the dollar did not fall, but relied on the petrodollar mechanism to gain a firm foothold. All crude oil transactions in the Middle East have to be settled in U.S. dollars. Tankers go one by one, and the dollar symbol shines on the settlement statement. This system makes the cost of borrowing money in the United States ridiculously low, and the US dollar accounts for more than 80% of global trade. According to the report of the Bank for International Settlements, cross-border payments basically cannot get around it.
The size of the U.S. economy is true, in the second quarter of 2025 GDP will be $7.1 trillion, the entire year is expected to be $28 trillion. The military budget is about 3%, not much, can be placed in such a large dish, enough to hold a huge navy. The high debt should make the fiscal tight, but the dollar's privilege is like a buffer pad, officials in the central bank buildings review reserves reports, must buy a bit of U.S. debt security and exchange rate stability. Tokyo's buyers order through electronic platforms, Beijing's Foreign Exchange Administration is also moderately arranged, these foreign flows into the U.S. share the pressure. In the first half of 2025, U.S. debt auction foreign holders accounted for 30%, although less than the peak,
Speaking of these 11 aircraft carriers, the U.S. Navy will maintain this lineup in 2025. Each is a nuclear-powered behemoth and can carry more than 70 F-35 fighter jets. The ranking of World Population Review shows that the United States monopolizes 11 large aircraft carriers, and a total of only about 50 are in service worldwide. In an August 2025 statement, Navy officials reiterated that the level of 11 ships and nine air wings authorized by Congress must be maintained. Building a Ford-class aircraft carrier costs more than $12 billion, and modules are assembled one by one in the drydock at the Newport News Shipyard. After serving, with annual maintenance costs of US$4 billion, the maintenance shed at the Norfolk base was busy.
The dollar hegemony is key, the U.S. Treasury auctioned state bonds, Japanese pension funds and Chinese export companies indirectly injected funds to buy Boeing parts. The U.S. Federal Reserve pressed interest rates at around 4%, the average earnings rate in 2025 was only 2.8% and interest spending was controlled within $1 trillion. The military industry pushed, from Lockheed Martin's warplanes production line to the Texas Steel Plant, the chain stretched and hired more than 2 million workers. Enterprise executives lobbied in Congress mountains, with satellite photos of Iran's threats, pushing the defense budget for the fiscal year 2025 down $8.98 billion.
Aircraft carriers not only spend money, but also help make money. They patrol the Persian Gulf and Asia-Pacific, guarding oil lines and trade channels. According to data from the Energy Administration, in 2025, the US dollar settlement of crude oil trade will account for 88%, the merchant fleet will pass safely, Apple chips will be shipped from Taiwan to the West Coast, American companies will earn trillions a year, and tax revenue will return to the state treasury. After Congress passed the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, the budget was directly invested in the next generation of aircraft carriers, and designers optimized the electromagnetic ejection system. In this way, military spending forms a cycle: the budget supports military industry, employment pulls political support, and the aircraft carrier shares the pie.
This model looks stable, but the actual risk is not small. Global de-dollarization is accelerating. In 2025, the U.S. dollar index will fall by 9.5%, and the price of gold will exceed $3,900 an ounce. The Asian central bank switched to RMB settlement, and Saudi Arabia signed a local currency agreement with Brazil, weakening the attractiveness of U.S. debt. According to the analysis of the Atlantic Council, the dominance of the US dollar makes the debt sustainability of the United States 22% higher, but if foreign capital reduces its holdings and interest rates rise to 5%, military spending will have to be tightened. The report of the Federal Reserve acknowledges that the status of the US dollar depends on the size of the US economy and trade openness. Emerging market countries can try local currency swaps in trade agreements, and the settlement system under the BRICS mechanism can be tested and operated to avoid US dollar intermediaries.
From our China perspective, this has to be treated dialectically. The United States relies on hegemony to borrow debt, maintain unilateralism, and interfere with global fair trade. But China, as a responsible big country, promotes the "Belt and Road" construction of interconnectivity, and the transboundary payment ratio of the RMB has risen to 4%. This has not only stabilized the exchange rate of developing countries, but also added BRICS to the multi-polar world. The International Monetary Fund seminar noted that the dollar network effect is strong, but the supply chain of companies from New York to Shanghai is gradually diversifying.
In the long run, the U.S. debt imbalance will test its leadership, the world will win-win cooperation, and the U.S. aircraft carrier will not be able to stop the trend of the times.