The federal government’s outstanding financial obligations now total some $34 trillion, about 123 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), near a historic record. Meanwhile, the latest Congressional Budget Office estimates announce deficits of over $1.5 trillion a year in the coming years, between six and seven percent of GDP. While this flow of red ink promises to add significantly to the already massive pile of outstanding debt, Washington seems not to have paused to consider the potential damage implicit in these trends, much less to entertain ways to arrest them. The prospects are far from encouraging.
There are some—in Washington certainly, but also on Wall Street and in academia—who dismiss such concerns. Essentially, these analysts take what might be called a “trader’s view.” The bond-buying public seems to be coping well with the flow of…
