Ken Griffin Urges Growth Reforms As US Debt Nears $40 Trillion

Citadel founder Ken Griffin called for pro-growth reforms and investment in productivity-enhancing technologies, warning at Citadel Securities’ Future of Global Markets conference in New York that the US government’s fiscal position was “clearly not in order.”

His comments followed confirmation that the federal budget deficit reached $2 trillion in fiscal 2026. Interest payments accounted for more than half of that amount.

Griffin argued that economic growth should be the main priority for policymakers facing rising debt-servicing costs and persistent budget deficits. “We really need to play the productivity card as hard as we can,” he said. “Grow the damn economy.”

He urged the government to support technologies that could raise productivity over the next two decades, including data centers, nuclear fusion and robotics. He also called for changes to education and immigration policy, including efforts to attract highly skilled workers from overseas.

Griffin criticized Europe’s economic performance and labor rules, pointing to France’s restrictions on working hours as an example of policies that could limit growth. He argued that stronger European economies could reduce the region’s reliance on US defense spending.

He described tariff disputes between the US and Europe as counterproductive. The US and its European allies face shared fiscal and economic pressures, Griffin told attendees, and trade conflicts would not resolve those problems.