On American Debt, Inflation, and Industrial Policy
June 11, 2023
Distinguished economic journalists Binyamin Appelbaum, Scott Horsley, Greg Ip, and Heather Long join EconoFact Chats for a broad-based discussion on the U.S. economy.
The U.S. federal government budget has run a deficit–it has spent more than it collected in revenues–every year but five over the past five decades. Under a deficit, the federal government needs to borrow in order to pay for government programs. The national debt is the accumulation of this borrowing, together with the associated interest owed to investors; it stood at over $31 trillion as of October, 2022.
The decisions governments make concerning taxation, borrowing, and spending–and the consequences of these policies for government deficits and debt–have profound and wide-ranging effects. They impact incentives and economic performance; growth; social welfare; and financial stability, among others. Our memos and podcasts address concerns about debt; the efficacy and distributional effects of tax policies and the social safety net; demographic implications for government finances; tax evasion; and state and local finance; among other topics.
June 11, 2023
Distinguished economic journalists Binyamin Appelbaum, Scott Horsley, Greg Ip, and Heather Long join EconoFact Chats for a broad-based discussion on the U.S. economy.
May 24, 2023
The debt limit debate has cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and TANF on the table. The scope for savings in government spending is bound by their share of the budget.
May 11, 2023
The consequences of a failure to raise the debt ceiling are serious but difficult to quantify. Why does the U.S. have a debt ceiling, and what does it mean to raise it?
March 22, 2023
A look at the sources of U.S. government debt, and a discussion of the short and long run effects of government borrowing.
January 22, 2023
As the U.S. Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling in a timely manner, what lessons might policy-makers draw from the British budget crisis of September 2022?
December 5, 2022
The impact on the Federal budget of rising interest rates is not immediately transparent due to the various types of outstanding government debt.
October 30, 2022
As of October 2022, the U.S. national debt stood at over $31 trillion. That amounts to nearly $90,000 of debt per citizen. But is there an upside to a government spending more than its tax revenues?
March 29, 2022
The fiscal condition of state and local governments proved far less dire than forecast at the pandemic’s outset. How did predictions end up being so off target?
February 20, 2022
Bill Gale discusses recognizing and analyzing racial disparities fostered by public policy and how public finance policies can better address past injustices.