by jpitney | Mar 2, 2025 | Debt, Economic Policy
Bruce Mehlman: The U.S. government spent more paying interest on our national debt than on defense spending for the first time ever in 2024, and will again every year for the foreseeable future. Surely no big deal, right? In fact America’s net interest payments on our...
by jpitney | Dec 20, 2024 | Budget, Congress, Debt, Economic Policy
Don Wolfensberger at The Hill: Since 1976 there have been 21 government shutdowns, the longest lasting 34 days, from Dec. 22, 2018 to Jan. 25, 2019. The second longest was 21 days in December 1995 (“the Gingrich that stole Christmas”). And the third longest was 16...
by jpitney | Oct 21, 2024 | Debt, Economic Policy, Social Security
Michael Strain at The Financial Times: The first step to solve the budget problem is to acknowledge it. But at Harris and Trump’s presidential debate, the word “debt” was not mentioned once. Nor can it be found in the 2024 Republican party platform. Harris makes only...
by jpitney | Jul 30, 2024 | Debt
Alan Rappeport at NYT: America’s gross national debt topped $35 trillion for the first time on Monday, a reminder of the nation’s grim fiscal predicament as legislative fights over taxes and spending initiatives loom in Washington. The Treasury Department noted the...
by jpitney | Jul 20, 2024 | Debt, Economic Policy, Social Security
Brian Riedl nails it at Reason: Paradoxically, the faster government debt escalates toward an inevitable debt crisis, the less politicians and voters seem to care. In the 1980s and 1990s, more modest deficits dominated economic policy debates and prompted six...
by jpitney | Apr 20, 2024 | California Politics, Debt
Don Lee at LAT: California’s massive budget deficit, coupled with the state’s relatively high level of joblessness, has become a major barrier to reducing the billions of dollars of debt it has incurred to pay unemployment benefits. The surge in unemployment brought...
