"There’s nothing magic about the $40 trillion number, and we can grow our way out of that" - Bessent

He also claims the number is temporary because of tariff refunds, and that they will reduce the debt with more tariffs.

We'll grow our way out whenever the mythical trickle down works

"I'm not bald, there's nothing special about 300 hairs, which I currently have, compared to 300,000, which I used to have making me suddenly bald"

Just because there's no magical boundary number doesn't mean a metric can't become increasingly more shitty, and suddenly turn into a bad outcome. Not every response is linear.

Grow our way out of that means hitting the $50 trillion number.

He's right, the number is temporary because of tariff refunds: as the refunds are issued, it will grow.

We will grow to $50T before you know it, and this headline will look silly.

Maybe there is no magic about the absolute number. How about magic of the debt servicing costs that are paid by Joes and Janes

"grow" == "inflate"