#Deficit

President Trump’s claim this week that his tariffs will enable the government to start "paying down" large amounts of the federal debt is wrong for a very simple reason: It is impossible to reduce debt while you are still adding to it.…

Ben Bernanke, Henry Paulson and Timothy Geithner played central roles in dealing with the financial crisis 10 years ago that stunned the nation and threatened economic disaster. The three former policymakers recently discussed some of the lessons to be learned…

By Rob Ryan The state of the economy is a crucial determinant of the federal budget outlook. Even slight changes in key economic indicators can lead to major shifts in federal revenues and outlays. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) outlined…

Uncle Sam just got a fiscal health check-up from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and it didn’t go well. The patient should be alarmed. So should the American taxpayer. “The Congress and administration face serious economic, security, and social challenges…

In The Daily Reflector (North Carolina). Anyone in Congress might be able to produce a sensible federal budget and cut the national debt — if they didn’t have to answer to their constituents. That was the hard lesson a group…

In WCTI (North Carolina). From changes to Social Security, to how many nuclear submarines the Navy needs, people of all ages played lawmaker for a day. They had to decide on issues the U.S Congress has to vote on every…

While elected officials in Washington are considering various proposals that would increase the federal deficit, dozens of Iowa residents demonstrated in a recent budget exercise that they strongly favor moving in the opposite direction -- one that would substantially reduce…

Not all deficits are created equal. In designing policy responses, it is important to distinguish between “cyclical” and “structural” deficits. Cyclical deficits are caused by a weak economy. Recessions drive down government revenue because many workers and businesses are no…