Excerpt

Reducing Long Term Deficits. Martin Feldstein, May 26, 2016, Paper. "The most serious long-term challenge for the economic policy of the US Federal government is the explosive growth of the national debt that will occur unless there are specific policy actions. The ratio of the federal government debt to the GDP has doubled in the past decade from a level of less than 40 percent that prevailed for many years before the recent recession to 75 percent of GDP now. According to the most recent report by the Congressional Budget Office (2016), the debt ratio is already beginning to rise. The CBO projects that with current policies the debt to GDP ratio will reach 86 percent within ten years and the federal debt will be on its way to 155 percent of GDP by the year 2045. I suspect that even this disturbing forecast is too optimistic because a debt trajectory like that is likely to cause portfolio investors in the United States and elsewhereto conclude that the U.S. government has lost control of its fiscal policy ..." Link