The rising national debt is raising alarms. The COVID spending is on top of ballooning debt from previous years. We were totaling nearly $17 trillion in 2019 which will for sure be more difficult to improve. The debt growth was supposed to be on track to nearly double by 2029 which is close to the size of the entire United States economy. This was before we knew of the massive pandemic spending which could now put the country in more danger since it will most likely be happening sooner than expected. “Reducing it will require politically difficult decisions to curb entitlement spending, raise taxes, or both.” There is debate over what is going to happen in the future with the large debts. Some experts worry that the debts could drag the economy or precipitate a fiscal crisis. When we reach some debt limit, growth will slow and investors will lose confidence and be unwilling to finance U.S. borrowing. This results in larger deficits, a debt spiral, which could lead to significant spending cuts or increased taxes. While others think that we still have decades to address the issue. This is mainly because some economists think that entitlement spending and health-care costs are not growing as fast as predicted and the costs of financing our debt now is at its lowest since the 1970s. Which view do you think is right?
McBride, James, et al. “The National Debt Dilemma.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, 9 Sept. 2020, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/national-debt-dilemma.
I think both views are valid and have their given important points. On one end the debt is growing at an exponential rate and needs to be addressed in the next 10 or so years, or there will be sever implications. On the other end, we are in a period where many people need the government spending through stimulus packages, among many other things. I think if we begin to curb debt we need to look at where government spending is going. The government should make sure to not cut important programs that many benefit from. I think curbing debt will need to start at reducing defense spending and reallocate from there.
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