U.S. Fiscal Policy and the Current State of the Economy

Episode Details

The government’s budget deficit is forecast to be nearly 18% this year, and government debt is expected to grow to more than 100% of GDP, its highest level since the end of World War II. Should the government cut spending to address the ballooning debt? Or, in the face of the highest unemployment rates since the Great Depression, would any move toward fiscal consolidation be premature? In the 4^th episode of EconoFact Chats, EconoFact’s Executive Editor Michael Klein interviews Maurice Obstfeld, Professor at U.C. Berkeley and the immediate past Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund, on fiscal policy and the state of the economy.