Rockefeller CEO says US debt is bigger concern than inflation

Rising US national debt, coupled with the lack of political impetus to tame it, is more concerning than inflationary pressures, according to Rockefeller Capital Management Chief Executive Officer Greg Fleming, Bloomberg quotes.

The growing debt load risks pushing up borrowing costs and limiting the Federal Reserve’s flexibility in setting monetary policy, he said in an interview.

“It’s a fantastic amount of money to have borrowed, even for an economy this robust,” Fleming, 63, said during an episode of Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein.

US debt is approaching $40 trillion as the federal government consistently runs annual deficits equaling more than 5% of gross domestic product. In 2025, the government paid $970 billion in interest costs, according to the Congressional Budget Office, which is more than it spent that year on defense ($893 billion) and nearly as much as on Medicare ($988 billion).

“We spend more on interest than we do on defense, and that obviously could have rate implications” for the Fed, Fleming said in the interview. Spiraling debt, AI-driven productivity gains and the ongoing energy shock combine to create a “complicated picture” for new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, he said.

US federal debt was equal to more than 120% of GDP in 2025:

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