Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson said Thursday that the United States could face the same fate as ancient Egypt and Rome unless it finds a way to shrink the national debt.

“You go back to 17th century Spain, 18th century France, 19th century Great Britain, ancient Egypt, ancient Rome — every one of them knew that there was a problem, they did nothing about it and they collapsed,” Carson said. “Are we going to face the same thing or are we going to be smart enough to learn from their examples?”