In this final post of the series, I’ll predict what will play out in the coming months as Democrats and Republicans clash over federal spending, deficits, the Debt Ceiling, and national debt.  I’ll describe why the likely outcomes will only perpetuate and worsen the problems.  And, finally, I’ll close with some thoughts on a way…

It’s time to step out of the partisan rubric and attempt to find middle ground solutions to address the problems of federal spending, deficits, and the ever-increasing national debt.  We’ll do so by attempting to apply the insights we gained from the extensive research and analysis presented in prior posts. The aim is not so…

As a prelude to evaluating and deciding on policy solutions, I propose to distill all of the prior analysis and commentary into a list of ten key insights that can guide our discussion of solutions.  I have worked hard to make this list as complete and pithy as possible. Ten Major Insights and Questions from…

I want to first commend all of you who have persisted through this demanding series:  Congratulations!  I realize I may have lost some (many?) of you in this maze of information.  But if we’re ever going to solve these problems, we have to understand them in a far more sophisticated way than through the lens…

We’re now going to focus on the critical data point of federal revenues.  We’ll explore the extent to which revenues have varied over time, the factors that appear to affect revenue growth and decline, and the extent to which revenues have kept up with spending and the growth of the economy (GDP).  Federal Revenues: Nominal…

Let’s examine how the United States compares with other countries in the world when it comes to spending, total national debt, and related fiscal matters. In so doing, we’ll also attempt to assess the actual risks and drawbacks associated with continued deficit spending and extreme levels of national debt.   When drawing comparisons with other countries,…

It’s time to take a look at the next two data points:  annual deficits and the total national debt.  Let’s start with deficits (the extent to which each year’s spending is in excess of the revenue available).  The chart below displays deficits in terms of nominal dollars. Federal Deficits: Nominal Dollars From 1980 to 2008…

Today brings a deep dive into federal spending, the national debt, and related fiscal aspects.  We’re going to start by looking at the first data point: total federal spending.  Again, we’re principally looking at this and other data points over the period of 1980 to 2023.  A NOTE REGARDING THE GRAPHS USED IN THESE ANALYSES:…

It has previously been noted that much of the discussion and debate regarding federal spending, deficits, and huge national debt has been and continues to be highly partisan in nature. The two parties, acting in concert with their respective media allies and interest groups, have been blaming and demonizing one another for years. This approach…