Yesterday we did back to work nightmares, today we’re looking at your January finances. If checking your bank balance is anxiety inducing right now, spare a thought for the US government. National debt has hit a record high, passing $34 trillion for the first time. Thank god for those government bond buyers keeping the show on the road.

The lowdown

• 📉 Stocks and bonds drop in the worst start to the year in decades.

• 🍎 Barclays downgrades Apple on fears of slowing iPhone 15 sales in China.

• 🎈 Turkish inflation jumps to 64.77% in December, and is seen going higher.

Featured story

US national debt rises above $34 trillion for first time

The US national debt has hit a new record of $34 trillion, or about $100,000 for every person in the country. It got there much sooner than expected. In 2020, the Congressional Budget Office projected gross federal debt to pass $34 trillion in the 2029 fiscal year, but the US government borrowed heavily during the pandemic to stabilize the economy. That led to a surge in inflation which made it more expensive for the government to service its debts.

The high debt doesn’t appear to be a weight on the US economy yet. Investors are still willing to lend money to the government by buying bonds, which means tax hikes aren’t needed. But it could become a problem if debt continues to rise, putting financial pressure on national security and programs such as Social Security and Medicare, which are expected to drive inflation the most in the coming years.

The content we're consuming today

• WSJ: The tax whiz with the strangest hustle on Wall Street ($)

• Insider: Gen Z And millennials should be thanking boomers, not bashing them

• Reuters: For investors, 2024 is year of transition to a new economic order

Off-balance sheet items

• No one’s thrilled to be commuting at this time of year, but Tokyo train users have another challenge to contend with: the bumping uncle.

The bottom line