James C. Capretta | RealClearPolicy
As the federal government closed its books on fiscal year 2018 at the end of September, interest rates were rising to levels not seen in a decade, signaling the possibility of further deterioration in the budget outlook for 2019 and beyond. James Capretta argues that the past year has been positive for the US economy but a step in the wrong direction for fiscal policy. As economic growth accelerates and the Fed tightens monetary policy, interest rates are beginning to resemble what they were before the financial crisis. Capretta believes that if current trends continue, the federal government will be forced to pay higher interest rates on borrowed funds, and budget deficits will widen accordingly. Now is exactly the right time to restrain projected deficits with reforms of government programs.
James Pethokoukis and James C. Capretta | AEIdeas
By Joe Gould, Defense News: “White House national security adviser John Bolton called the national debt “a threat to the society” and said Pentagon spending will “flatten out” in the near term.”
Dennis Jansen & Thomas Saving, E21
The federal government is skirting dangerous shoals with an irresponsible fiscal policy. We are running massive budget deficits in a booming peacetime economy. These deficits are increasing our federal debt—which means we are also paying more to service the debt and more interest on every dollar of debt. While the Federal Reserve has been covering a significant portion of those servicing costs since the debt started ballooning in 2007, Fed revenues are declining, so it won’t be able to shoulder as much of that burden. The result will be more pressure on Congress to put our fiscal house in order. Read more here....