Podcast
How Can the Government Raise Revenues?
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November 1, 2026
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The US ran a budget deficit of $1.9 trillion in 2026 — nearly 6% of GDP. Ongoing deficits have led to publicly-held federal debt rising to almost 100% of GDP, with Congressional Budget Office projections showing it rising to 120% by 2036.
A necessary part of closing the budget deficit is raising revenues. What are the prospects for collecting more in taxes from corporations, imports, bequests and inheritances, and digital services? And what challenges does each source present in terms of collection, economic effects, and fairness? This week’s EconoFact Chats episode is an abridged version of a webinar on these issues, co-hosted with The Journalist’s Resource, featuring William Gale, John Sablehaus, and Elena Patel of the Brookings Institution, Kyle Pomerleau of the American Enterprise Institute, and Daniel Shaviro of New York University School of Law. The panelists drew on their recent EconoFact Explainers: Elena on taxing domestic and multinational corporations, Bill and John on taxing the Great Wealth Transfer, Dan on the US-EU dispute over digital services taxes, and Kyle on the fiscal and economic effects of tariffs.
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