Economist Charles Calomiris Warned in 2023 That the U.S. Fiscal Path Was Unsustainable, the Author Says

Prominent U.S. monetary economist Charles Calomiris warned in 2023 that the U.S. fiscal path was already unsustainable. He said surging debt and deficits would eventually lead investors to become unwilling to finance them, forcing the Fed to step in and print the difference.
"There is no interest rate where we could sustain these deficits going forward," Calomiris said.
The author says the situation has gotten worse since then. Debt is approaching $40 trillion, deficits are running around $2 trillion, interest expenses are exploding and foreign demand for Treasuries is weakening.
The author cites Trump as saying, "Inflation can pay down debt very rapidly."
The author argues the U.S. has reached a point where inflation is no longer just the problem but is becoming the cure to overindebtedness. In the author's view, the choice is between allowing inflation to erode the real value of the debt or fighting inflation with higher rates and making the fiscal situation even worse.
The author concludes that the U.S. does not own enough hard assets for what's coming.