How Much Can the Federal Budget and the Deficit Continue to Grow?

HKS Affiliated Authors

Professor of the Practice of Public Policy, HKS; Professor of the Practice of Economics, FAS

Excerpt

How Much Can the Federal Budget and the Deficit Continue to Grow? Doug Elmendorf, Karen Dynan, April 13, 2020, Audio, "Even before the coronavirus shifted the U.S. economy into low gear, demanding a massive stimulus in response, federal debt as a percentage of GDP was as high as it had been since the years following World War II. Simultaneously, given the nation’s aging population, spending on benefits for older Americans was and is expected to skyrocket. Should voters be worried? Why would curbing federal deficits now be a mistake? In this episode, recorded before the coronavirus arrived in the United States but perhaps even more pertinent now, Price professor of public policy Douglas Elmendorf, who is dean of the Harvard Kennedy School, and professor of the practice of economics Karen Dynan argue that this is the moment for the U.S. government to borrow." Link

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HKS Affiliated Authors

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