One of the most startling intellectual and political transformations of my lifetime concerns deficit spending. Politicians used to thunder about the dangers of the deficit. Sometimes they even did something about it. But the federal deficit this year is projected to be $3.4 trillion — even higher than last year’s record-breaking $3.1 trillion — and […]
Once upon a time, not that long ago actually, the federal deficit and national debt mattered. In 2008, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama said, “We’re just taking out a credit card from the Bank of China, essentially. We’re borrowing that money. And we’ve added $4 trillion worth of debt since George Bush took office. Keep in mind, just […]
Forty years ago, as a second-term senator, Joe Biden voted for the tax cuts that allowed President Reagan to declare an end to big government. Later, in the 1990s, Biden supported a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution and talked of the need to reduce the long-term costs of Social Security and Medicare. As president, […]
Late last week, the federal government of the United States issued its annual financial report. The report arrived, as it usually does, to deafening silence. Meanwhile, the American Rescue Plan of 2021 and related legislation under consideration have only amplified the disturbing trends evident in the results for fiscal year 2020. From 2015 to 2019, […]
SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — On March 25, 2021, the Department of the Treasury released the 2020 Financial Report of the U.S. Government. Most Americans are unaware that the federal government annually prepares and publicly releases audited financial statements of the nation’s finances. Janet Yellen, U.S. secretary of treasury, said in her introductory message, “The fiscal […]
Even before the latest stimulus bill was approved, the national budget deficit had already widened to a worrying level. The U.S. government almost always spends more than it takes in, and forecasters are predicting this year’s to be the second largest deficit since World War II. In addition, the national debt is over $28 trillion. So does it make sense […]
In 2000, the National Debt Clock displayed the nation’s $5.6 trillion debt from a building near the corner of 42nd Street and 6th Avenue in New York. The debt has since swollen to about $28 trillion and continues to rise. President Joe Biden’s new stimulus bill, the American Rescue Plan Act, will cost the nation […]
An economic framework called Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) governs the financial world today, but fails to account for the consequences of its practices. In fact, MMT is leading us to an extremely dangerous financial situation that could blow up at any time. What is MMT? Before we get to that, it helps to know what […]
The old news was bad, the new news will be worse. Earlier this month, the Congressional Budget Office released its Long-Term Budget Outlook. In a presentation this week, the CBO director warned that the report did not take into account the recently signed American Rescue Plan Act, and that things will very likely be worse than the official projections we are […]
President Joe Biden talks to reporters during the first news conference of his presidency in the White House. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Biden said Republicans suddenly care about the national debt again, at a Thursday press conference. “I love the fact they found this whole idea of concern about the federal budget. It’s kind of amazing,” he […]
