News
Roll Call | Debt Limit Move Provides Budget Deal Opportunity
The short-term debt limit suspension detailed Monday by House Republicans appears likely to delay one fiscal confrontation, but opinions are divided on whether it could lay the groundwork for something much bigger.
CNN Money | Wall Street's $11 billion windfall from fiscal cliff deal
Wall Street can thank Congress for a $11 billion tax windfall from the fiscal cliff deal that President Obama signed into law at the beginning of this month.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Post | America’s deficits: The problem is more than fiscal
Since the November election the U.S. public policy debate has been focused on prospective budget deficits and what can be done to reduce them. The concerns are partly economic: There is a recognition that debts cannot indefinitely be allowed to grow faster than incomes and the capacity to repay them.
WSJ | Amid the Debt-Ceiling Debate, Overblown Fears of Default
House Republicans last week unveiled a plan to raise the debt ceiling for three months, giving them time to negotiate spending cuts and entitlement reform without a Sword of Damocles—the threat of hitting the federal government's statutory borrowing limit—hanging over the process.
Blogs
Economist | Who runs first?
TheInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) often tells governments that they borrow too much. Now they warn that some governments are borrowing from the wrong people. As they put it, “our new research shows that advanced economies’ exposure to refinancing risk and changes in government borrowing costs depend mainly on who is holding the bonds.” Their findings are interesting but there may be less here than meets the eye.
Heritage Foundation | Debt Limit: Talk of Tax Increases Distracts from Spending Problem
In response to President Obama’s press conference last week, House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D–MD) claimed, “Clearly we need additional [spending] cuts. But…revenues have not been resolved.”
Heritage Foundation | Chart of the Week: Each American’s Share of Debt Is Skyrocketing
As the nation pushes into another debt ceiling debate, an AP-GfK poll released last week found that 39 percent of Americans think any debt ceiling increase should come with a serious plan to reduce spending. Another 21 percent believe that the ceiling should not be raised at all.
