Among the illustrious nameplates adorning the offices of Ivy League business schools is one Joao Gomes. A Wharton Business School finance professor, Gomes is issuing a warning cry many of his peers so far have chosen to ignore: America’s burgeoning public debt mountain.
Professor Gomes is what some might call up-and-coming: He added the University of Pennsylvania’s Marshall Blume Prize to his CV in 2018 and was appointed senior vice dean of research in 2021.
But the fresh-faced expert isn’t afraid to step away from the pack if it means pushing presidential hopefuls for some answers. Gomes admits he’s “probably” more worried than his colleagues about government debt, but refuses to stay silent on a broiling issue he believes will throw the global economy into disarray.
Gomes predicts America’s $34 trillion debt burden may upset the world’s financial markets as early as next year—should a president-elect announce a raft of expensive policies.