"The United States has forgotten the importance of fiscal discipline,"
"Neither party is serious about trying to cut the budget deficit. There is lots of hand-waving and rhetoric, but very little meaningful action."
"The comparison between the United States and Italy or Greece... those parallels are closer and more alarming today than at any point in my lifetime,"
"The politics become more and more polarized over time, and fiscal policy becomes trapped."
U.S. federal debt has risen uninterrupted for 24 years to about $38 trillion, exceeding 100% of GDP. Political polarization prevents the formation of a credible fiscal strategy and blocks meaningful deficit reduction, as neither major party commits to serious budget cuts. Earlier successful consolidations depended on strong growth, ultra-low interest rates, and political capacity to run primary surpluses; those conditions no longer exist. Economic growth is weaker, interest rates are structurally higher relative to growth, and political fragmentation increasingly traps fiscal policy, making the U.S. more similar to highly indebted, fragmented southern European economies.
Read at Fortune
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