News
WSJ | Deficit Plans Show Wide Political Gap
The debate over how to reduce the deficit is truly a philosophical one about the size of government. There's more than one route to fiscal nirvana.
Bloomberg | Greece Is ‘Insolvent,’ Unlikely to Honor Debt, ECB Economist Issing Says
Greece will probably be unable to meet its obligations as the euro region’s most-indebted nation is insolvent, according to former European Central Bank Chief Economist Otmar Issing.
Econ Comments
FT | Forget the debt ceiling and focus on debt
On May 15, the US hit its “debt ceiling” of $14,300bn, covering publicly owned debt held by the Federal Reserve and government trust funds...
Blogs
Cato@Liberty | On the Politics of Deficits and Debt
What 2010 showed was that deficits and debt are dominating our politics like never before. Democrats haven’t come to grips with that.
WSJ: Real Time Economics | CBO Says Stimulus Boosted Growth, Will Add More to Deficit
The CBO report out Wednesday said the plan increased the number of people employed by between 1.2 million and 3.3 million, and lowered the unemployment rate by between 0.6 and 1.8 percentage points in the first quarter of 2011.
Political Calculations | The Hidden Cost of the United States' National Debt
At a sustained 40 point increase above the default-free risk level, we would estimate that the interest rate that investors require the U.S. government to pay on its 10-Year Treasury Bond is about 0.4% higher than it would otherwise be. Today's yields on a 10-Year Treasury of 3.15% would instead be about 2.75%, if not for the increased risk of default.
Reports
Heritage Foundation | The Heritage Foundation’s “Saving the American Dream” Plan Cuts Most Debt, Taxes & Federal Spending
Heritage’s report, “Saving the American Dream: Heritage’s Plan to Fix the Debt, Cut Spending, and Restore Prosperity,” lays out bold policy recommendations in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, health insurance, the tax code and federal spending.
