Jackson Hole: Economist Kevin Rogoff Says a 'Shock' Needed to Trigger Action on Debt -- WSJ

By Shradha Dinesh

Harvard University economist Kenneth Rogoff warned that it's going to take a "shock" to push Americans to demand economic policy change on debt, in an interview with Bloomberg TV Friday out of Jackson Hole, Wyo. (He referred to the current Iran conflict as a "mini-shock.")

Rogoff, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, said U.S. debt has ballooned because of a "near religious conviction" among academic economists that interest rates would drop indefinitely.

Falling interest rates removed the incentive to care about debt, he said. "Interest rates have reversed, but Washington hasn't."

The U.S. debt topped $40 trillion last week.

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August 28, 2026 16:30 ET (20:30 GMT)