A new survey revealed that American CEOs consider the US' inflating national debt as the most worrisome geopolitical risk that could affect their business, rather than wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. 

The survey taken by CEOs and C-Suite executives, called The Conference Board’s C-Suite Outlook 2024, also indicated that the second risk businesspeople are unsettled by are cyberattacks that could infiltrate their databases and systems. 

Ranking third was the war on Gaza and the possible regional expansion, followed by the influx of energy prices resulting from the war in Ukraine. 

The instability of the US economy 

US national debt has skyrocketed to over $34 trillion in a historic high at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023, marking a new era of national and global economic inflation CEOs and C-Suite executives have not prepared for. 

The survey found that only 37% of US national CEOs and 27% of global CEOs are economically capable of facing a recession. 

Despite increased worries, the US claims it has achieved what's called a "soft landing" in the context of gliding through an economic crisis that did not affect its financial markets or manifest in the American economy.

However, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated in December that while the current status of the US economy doesn't suggest a recession, uncertainties regarding growth and inflation make future developments unpredictable.

"I think you can say that there's little basis for thinking that the economy is in a recession now," Powell said. 

He further emphasized that a recession within the next year is a possibility, though not guaranteed, and there are ongoing risks.

"I think there's always a probability that there will be a recession in the next year and it's a meaningful probability, no matter what the economy's doing, so it's always a real possibility. This result is not guaranteed. It is far too early to declare victory. And there are certainly risks. It's certainly possible that the economy will behave in an unexpected way. It has done that repeatedly in the post-pandemic period," he said.

Read more: Bank of America forecasts a US 'mild recession' for the next 9 months