Fiscal Policy

Gridlock Is Good—Except In The Jaws Of Massive Public Debts

by David Stockman November 9, 2020

James Madison is surely smiling from his grave. Pursuant to his constitutional design, last night a badly divided electorate got an utterly  gridlocked government—with the Supreme Court and Senate in the hands of one party  and the House of Representatives and White House marginally in the hands of the  other. That’s as good an RX against tyranny as it gets. Vlad ...

America’s Fiscal Follies are Dangerously in the Red

by Richard M. Ebeling September 10, 2020

The Congressional Budget Office has recently issued a federal “Budget Outlook Update” for the next ten years in the context of the government’s fiscal condition in the face of the coronavirus and Washington’s spending spree. The message: the deficit for fiscal year 2020 is huge, and the national debt is getting bigger, faster than had been projected before ...

Debt, Deficits and the Cost of Free Lunches

by Richard M. Ebeling June 19, 2019

It seems that every generation or two, fundamental economic ideas are questioned and challenged. The reasonable and important idea that governments should balance their budgets on an annual basis was challenged in the 1930s by the rise of Keynesian Economics and the counter-argument that deficit spending was desirable, if it was used to maintain full employment. Now it seems ...

The Libertarian Angle: National Debt and the Debt Ceiling (video)

by Future of Freedom Foundation March 19, 2019

The national debt keeps going up and the federal budget keeps running in the red. Jacob Hornberger and Richard Ebeling discuss. Go to the podcast.

Debts and Deficits are Out of Control

by Richard M. Ebeling February 6, 2019

Understandably, the problems and politics of the moment dominate the news and attract the attention of most policy commentators and much of the public. Will there be another government shutdown, will House Democrats attempt to impeach the president, will interest rates remain low, and will there be a trade war with China? But there are longer-term problems as well, ...

Abolish the Welfare State to Solve the National Debt Crisis

by Richard M. Ebeling February 1, 2019

Why is it so difficult to win the case for freedom in modern American society? A variety of possible answers come to mind. The collectivists are more effective in appealing to people’s emotions. The interventionist-welfare-statist argument is easier to make than it is to follow the logical chains of reasoning required to make the free-market case. Socialist-leaning teachers and ...

The Libertarian Angle: The Federal Debt Crisis

by Future of Freedom Foundation December 6, 2018

A fiat monetary system allows a government to spend well beyond its means, and the U.S. government certainly has taken advantage. New deficit records are set every budget cycle. How long can this go on and how will it end? FFF president Jacob G. Hornberger and Richard Ebelign discuss. Go to the

$1 Trillion Deficits and the Crisis of the Entitlement State

by Richard M. Ebeling August 8, 2018

In case you have missed them since the early years of the Obama administration, the $1 trillion-a-year federal budget deficits are coming back, beginning with Uncle Sam’s new fiscal year for 2019, which starts on October 1, 2018. And they might not be going away anytime soon. Is it something to be worried about? Yes, it is. Both the Congressional ...

Balanced-Budget Baloney

by Laurence M. Vance August 1, 2018

It wasn’t that long ago (1987) that the entire budget of the federal government was “only” a trillion dollars. It reached the $2 trillion mark in 2002, and didn’t exceed $3 trillion until 2009. Even after a long series of budget deficits, the national debt didn’t exceed $1 trillion dollars until 1982 and $5 trillion until 1996. The first budget ...

The Most Unnecessary Federal Spending

by Laurence M. Vance July 31, 2018

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2019 (Oct. 1, 2019–Sept. 30, 2020), which directs how federal funds should be used for national defense, has now passed both the U.S. House and Senate — as it has every year since 1961. Officially titled the “John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019,”

The Debt Ceiling Hysteria and Profligate Government

by Richard M. Ebeling February 5, 2018

Once again, the financial fears have been ratcheted up due to recent announcements by the U.S. Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that by the middle of March 2018 the Federal government will have run out of room to continue borrowing due to the official debt ceiling. Some are now calling for ...

Time to Shut It Down

by Laurence M. Vance December 6, 2017

According to Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 of the Constitution, “No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law.” When one or both Houses of Congress fails to pass a bill, or Congress and the president can’t come to an agreement on a bill, to fund the operations and agencies of ...