With U.S. government revenues rising, 2023 might have been a good year for Congress to get America’s post-COVID-19 finances on track, but the budget deficit is still growing. You can thank overspending for this. It’s also the reason we’ve had…
Most Americans meticulously plan their Thanksgiving meals and travel, sometimes budgeting months in advance to celebrate at a reasonable price tag. This prudent embodiment of both gratitude and restraint starkly contrasts with the approach of our politicians. It’s an inconsistency…
With the close of the U.S. Treasury’s fiscal year on September 30, 2023, there came an important update (provided by the Heritage Foundation) on the U.S. Treasury budget for the prior fiscal year. A brief summary of the update is…
There’s much talk this week about the need for a fiscal commission. The House Budget Committee held a hearing about it a few weeks ago. Pundits are Substacking about whether using the approach to put federal finances on a sustainable…
Some policy experts who, over the last few decades, saw little need for serious fiscal austerity because the government could borrow at low interest rates are now changing their tune. Their argument is that with rates now rising and the…
Countless financial soothsayers and Wall Street wizards were once members of a curious cult. Their doctrine? The unshakable belief that interest rates had managed to find something resembling the fabled Fountain of Youth, leaving their numbers eternally low and never…
You’ve undoubtedly noticed how up-in-arms everyone becomes when the government is on the verge of shutting down. I’ve also noticed that the people who most loudly express their horror at the notion of a partial government closure seem totally comfortable…
By averting a government shutdown, Democrats and more moderate Republicans ensured bigger government, further indebtedness, a greater percentage of the federal budget allocated toward paying interest, and inflation worse than otherwise. Given that the government never really shuts down —…
Fitch Ratings just downgraded the U.S. government’s credit rating, due in part to Congress’ erosion in governance. Indeed, year after year, we see the same political theater unfold: last-minute deals, deficits, and, all too often, the passage of gigantic omnibus…
