We talk a lot on here about government's deficit, but recent research and polls have shown that the public in general don't pay that much attention. The author of the article argues this really is one of the issues that deserves a lot more attention and needs to be addressed properly. According to the article, "as the economy recovers over the next couple of years, the deficit will decline. It will only decline, however (and depending on what Congress does), to the nearly but maybe not quite sustainable range of 3% to 5% of GDP, and it will then begin rising again around mid-decade, thanks mostly to increasing entitlement spending. By the end of the decade, America's debt-to-GDP ratio will be at troublingly high levels. And at some point between now and then, probably in a couple of years when America's economic slack has largely tightened up, interest rates will rise. Depending on how high and how fast they rise, America's economy will experience something between a slight drag on growth and a serious crisis."
Americans are very concerned about the economy as a whole, which is a good thing. But the economy and the deficit, I think, are just two sides of the same coin. So, more attention is obviously warranted.
3 comments:
I think that American's don't really care as long as they get what they want, individually. Americans like tax cuts, but also many of them like social programs...and the military. As long as people are willing to invest in us, no matter our interest rate we will probably keep spending. especially during the recession.
Americans will start caring about the deficit when they have to start paying for the deficit. Unfortunately, until then politicians are unlikely to be given the political mandate to change our current course. Currents decisions will likely start being felt within the next generation.
I agree that American's are partly to blame. In an effort to fix our present deficit problems, government officials continually talk about the need to stop tax cuts and increase tax rates. However, every time taxes are increased, it typically just leads to further deficits. I think officials need to take some responsibility of the problem and attack the problem before it gets out of control.
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