The Role of Policy Analysts in Addressing the US Fiscal Challenge

US government debt is on a path that is almost surely unsustainable without significant changes in policy. Debt held by the public is now roughly equal to annual gross domestic product (GDP), a level that has been exceeded in the country’s history for only a few years near the end of the Second World War. Moreover, under current policies, annual deficits are running at about 6 percent of GDP, an amount of borrowing the country has never experienced apart from wars and economic downturns. Thus, the gap between federal spending and revenue is unprecedented.