America's long-term budget outlook looks bleak. The country's leaders must change course to achieve public-debt sustainability, and to pay for the structural increases in spending that demographics, climate change, and intra- and inter-generational fairness will require.
NEW YORK – Now that the brinkmanship over the US federal debt limit has been suspended until January 1, 2025, two major, interdependent fiscal-policy challenges demand attention. First, America’s public debt must be put on a safer, more sustainable trajectory; and second, the country’s leaders need to determine the optimal size of the public sector, as measured by primary public spending (excluding interest payments) as a share of GDP.
NEW YORK – Now that the brinkmanship over the US federal debt limit has been suspended until January 1, 2025, two major, interdependent fiscal-policy challenges demand attention. First, America’s public debt must be put on a safer, more sustainable trajectory; and second, the country’s leaders need to determine the optimal size of the public sector, as measured by primary public spending (excluding interest payments) as a share of GDP.