The Debt

Klobuchar Pitches Herself as Pragmatic Alternative to Progressive Dems

By Yuval Rosenberg

In a CNN town hall in New Hampshire Monday night, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) drew some clear distinctions between herself and some of the most progressive Democratic presidential candidates in the...
Trump on the $22 Trillion National Debt: 'Growth Will Straighten It Out'

By Michael Rainey

President Trump was asked at his wide-ranging press conference Friday about the roughly $2 trillion increase in public debt during the first two years of his administration: Question: Let me also ask...
The Great Debt Debate: How Dangerous Is It?

By Michael Rainey

MIT economist Olivier Blanchard caused a stir in fiscal circles last month with an academic paper suggesting that current levels of public debt may be less worrisome than many experts think (see our...
Goldman Sachs Projects Deficit Will Top $1 Trillion Next Year

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Congressional Budget Office projected last month that the federal budget deficit for this year would be about $900 billion , up 15 percent from last year but about $84 billion less than it had...
Democrats Unveil Their ‘Green New Deal.’ Here’s What It Does – and Doesn’t Do

By Michael Rainey

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) released their much-anticipated proposal for a Green New Deal Thursday. Framed as a response to the challenges of global warming, the 14...

Foreign Ownership of US Debt Continues to Decline

By Michael Rainey

Foreign demand for U.S. government debt has been declining in recent years but domestic investors have picked up the slack, The Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Kruger and Kate Davidson reported...
SOTU 2019: 3 Important Things Trump Said, and 1 Big Thing He Didn’t

By Yuval Rosenberg

President Trump’s 82-minute-long State of the Union address Tuesday night put a uniquely Trumpian spin on the usual recipe for the address: a healthy helping of rah-rah patriotism and legislative...
Is It Time to Start Selling 100-Year Bonds?

By Michael Rainey

With the U.S. facing a $12 trillion deficit over the next decade, the Treasury Department is exploring ways to maintain robust demand for American debt. One option being considered is the sale of “...
‘Greatest Threat’ to the US? Two Top Democratic Economists Aren’t So Worried About the Debt

By Michael Rainey

Starbucks founder Howard Schultz told “60 Minutes” Sunday that he is considering a run for president in 2020, possibly as a “centrist independent,” and one of his top issues is the growing national...
Deficit Rising, but Won’t Hit $1 Trillion Until 2022, CBO Projects

By Michael Rainey

In new budget and economic projections released Monday , the Congressional Budget Office said annual deficits are expected to rise above $1 trillion in 2022, two years later than previous estimates,...

Bond Traders Not Expecting a Big Spike in Treasury Yields

By Michael Rainey

A Reuters poll of 75 bond strategists found that while most think Treasury yields are headed higher, the increases are expected to be relatively modest, despite the big jump in supply as the U.S...
US Borrowing Nearly $300 Billion This Week

By Michael Rainey

The Treasury Department plans to sell a record $294 billion worth of bills and notes this week, according to Bloomberg . The tax cuts signed into law by President Trump are causing a decline in...
Sarah Sanders Says 'Of Course' Trump Still Cares About the Deficit

By Yuval Rosenberg

The national debt has now grown by more than $1 trillion since President Trump took office, climbing from $19.947 trillion to $20.958 trillion . Asked about that increase in the debt and whether...
US Could Spend More on Interest Than Defense by 2024, Budget Watchdog Warns

By Yuval Rosenberg

The U.S. government could spend more paying interest on its debt than it does on Medicaid by 2021 and the cost of debt service could surpass defense spending by 2024, according to a newly published...
Tax Cuts, Part 2: Trump Wants Another Crack at the Code

By Michael Rainey

The tax overhaul may not be generating the kind of political momentum Republicans were hoping for, but that’s not stopping them from talking about another round of tax cuts. President Trump has been...