What do Paul Krugman and Congressman Paul Ryan have in common beyond their first name? Until now, not much.

What’s worrying both Krugman and Ryan is the rapid increase in the federal debt – not so much the stimulus-driven rise to mountainous levels in the next few years, but the huge structural deficits that, under all projections, keep building the burden far into the future to unsustainable, ruinous heights. “The long-term outlook remains worrying,” warned Krugman in his New York Times column. Krugman strongly supports President Obama’s spending plans but bemoans the shortfall in taxes to pay for them.

Ryan flays the administration for piling new spending on top of already enormous deficits. “This isn’t a temporary stimulus but a ramp-up in debt followed by a greater explosion in spending and debt,” he told Fortune, predicting a day when America’s creditors will start viewing the U.S. Treasury as a risky bet. “The bond markets will come after us with a vengeance. We’re playing with fire.” Krugman favors far higher taxes, while Ryan wants to curb spending, but for now what’s so big and so dangerous that it distresses such diverse types as Krugman and Ryan – and should scare all Americans – is the Great Debt Threat.

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Graphic: Fortune Magazine, (h/t to Jerry Simmons for sending me the article)