What does a national debt of nearly $40 trillion mean for businesses? Carolyn Bourdeaux, an expert in national, state and local public finance and Executive Director of Concord Coalition and Concord Coalition Action Fund, answers this question and more. The former U.S. Representative from Georgia was a special guest at Purdue’s West Lafayette campus and sat down with the Daniels School in late March 2026 to outline the real risks and possible fiscal checkmate of the United State’s ballooning debt. Annual deficits near $2 trillion and interest payments exceeding national defense spending mean tighter credit markets, higher interest rates, difficulty starting and scaling businesses and long-lasting economic consequences if problems are not addressed. Bourdeaux breaks down where federal spending actually goes, why Social Security, Medicare, health care costs and revenues must all be part of the solution and why disciplined decision making today can prevent an uncontrolled economic crisis tomorrow. Subscribe to the Purdue business school’s thought leadership blog, Daniels Insights, for more sense-making from faculty, staff, alumni and guests: https://business.purdue.edu/daniels-insights