Government debt has crossed $40 trillion and borrowing costs are rising, which is bad for regular borrowers and for anyone hoping Washington fixes the problem soon.

• The "doom loop" is simple: more debt means higher interest costs, which means even more borrowing.
• Treasury is buying back long-dated bonds and issuing more short-term debt to push long rates down — a version of the old Operation Twist.
• That is treating the symptom, not the cause, which is heavy government spending; it's called a drop in the ocean.
• The timing looks political, with mortgage rates and credit card rates biting low-income people ahead of the midterms.
• Money is being drained by the government just as businesses want capital for the AI buildout, so rates squeeze everything else.

Outlook: No fix is on the horizon, and the pressure will likely come from bond investors selling US debt or from the Social Security trust fund running dry in a few years.