The US has a debt problem. When will it become a crisis?
As the United States national debt continues to reach historic levels, concerns over its long-term impact on the economy remain at an all-time high. The big question is when do these concerns turn into a crisis? On this week’s episode of Capitol Gains, anchor Madison Mills, Washington Correspondent Ben Werschkul, and Senior Columnist Rick Newman talk with American Action Forum president and former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin about the federal debt and when Americans could anticipate a debt crisis due to the deficit growing too large. “I don't think it's imminent. I don't think it's within five years, 10 years,” Holtz-Eakin says. “The right answer is - I don't want to know the answer to that question. Why run the experiment? We would be much better off if we right now went after the root causes of our rising debt. We would crowd out less investment in the private sector. We would send more kids to get skills. We'd have a better workforce.” Holtz-Eakin explains. “When we had disciplined fiscal policy before the 21st century started, we got better economic performance. The standard of living doubled roughly every 26 years. Now, it doubles every 56 years. And we had a much better overall fiscal outlook. Go back to that. Have a plan for the federal debt that doesn't include just going up. It has only gone up in the 21st century. That's a serious indictment of the political leadership.” To hear more of Holtz-Eakin’s thoughts, listen to the full episode of Capitol Gains here. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch more Capitol Gains. Capitol Gains is Yahoo Finance’s unique look at how US government policy will impact your bottom line long after the Presidential election polls have closed. This post was written by Lauren Pokedoff
