The World According to Boyar · Nov 11, 2026 · 33m · 24m saved
With David Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Carlyle and owner of the Baltimore Orioles
Photo via wikipedia.org
The United States owes about $40 trillion, and David Rubenstein, co-founder of Carlyle and owner of the Baltimore Orioles, told The World According to Boyar that there is only one realistic way it gets repaid.
Higher taxes, spending cuts, default, an IMF rescue and a bipartisan commission are the usual answers. David dismissed each one and said the country will inflate the debt away instead.
"The only thing that you really can do, honestly, and which is what we're doing, is we're going to pay off the debt in devalued dollars." — David Rubenstein
David co-founded Carlyle, one of the largest private equity firms, which owns part of an insurer and part of the Seattle Seahawks. He has chaired the Kennedy Center and hosts members of Congress from both parties at the Library of Congress.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it. 33 minutes of audio, 9 minutes of reading.
Here are the 10 calls that matter.
Key Takeaways
The US will repay its $40T of debt in devalued dollars, which puts the dollar's reserve status at risk
Growth cannot close the gap: an economy of $32–33T has never grown at 5–6% a year for long
Private equity's insurance books have not been tested by a recession in about 10 years
David passed on the Commanders at a $6B valuation and thinks the team is now worth double
Money, not the primary system, drives polarization in Washington, in David's view
A Soviet submarine crew voted 2-1 against launching a nuclear weapon during the Cuban Missile Crisis
Owning a team is a 1-in-30 bet each year, and David warns it is not for people who mind criticism
1. Debt in Devalued Dollars
David opened on the size of the problem. Jonathan Boyar, who hosts The World According to Boyar, asked how the US gets out from under $40 trillion of debt. David went through raising taxes, cutting spending, defaulting, an IMF bailout and a bipartisan commission, and said none of them will happen.
David Rubenstein says inflating the debt away puts the dollar's reserve role at risk
"When you devalue your currency... you run the risk of not being a reserve currency, which is one of the things the United States has been able to be since World War II." — David Rubenstein
David treats repayment in cheaper dollars as the path already underway, not a choice still to be made, and the reserve role as what it costs.
