Trump and the National Debt
With the US national debt expanding rapidly over the past decade, the state of the federal budget has come under intense scrutiny. The annual deficit
spiked following the 2008 financial crisis, and budget analysts say that without reform government spending will continue to outpace revenue.
As President Trump prepares his administration’s first budget proposal, his ambitious plans for new spending and tax cuts have unnerved some fiscal conservatives who would like to see deficit reduction. Meanwhile, the dependence of the United States on foreign investors to finance its debt has raised renewed questions over the US economy’s vulnerability to foreign governments or shifts in investor sentiment.
McBride discusses: What is the US government’s fiscal position; how would Trump’s budget plans affect it; what about the debt ceiling; how does US debt compare to other countries; who holds the US debt; and does foreign financing of the debt matter.