A major reason for the accelerating growth in government debt is America’s rapidly aging population and the resulting increase in the cost of the universal pension and health-care programs – Social Security and Medicare. Most experts believe that limiting the rise in debt will require slowing the growth of these “entitlement” programs and increasing taxes as a share of GDP.
政府债务上升越来越快的一个主要原因是美国人口在迅速老龄化，这导致全民退休金和医保项目——社会福利和医疗保险（Social Security and Medicare）——成本节节攀升。大多数专家认为，欲限制债务增长，就必须降低这些“福利”项目占GDP的比重，同时提高税收占GDP的比重。