The Debt

CBO Offers 121 Ways to Shrink the Deficit

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The Congressional Budget Office has released a 326-page guide that describes dozens of ways the federal government could reduce its large and growing budget deficit. The 121 policy options included...
Moody’s Warns of Declining US Fiscal Strength

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Trump’s tax cuts combined with a slowing economy will diminish the United States’ “fiscal strength” over the next 10 years, Moody’s Investor Service said Wednesday. The gradual decline could pressure...
Trump Says National Debt Is Not His Problem: Report

By Michael Rainey and Yuval Rosenberg

As a candidate, Donald Trump said he could eliminate the national debt in eight years, largely by focusing on better trade deals. But in office, Trump has presided over a considerable increase in red...
Paul Ryan Says the National Debt Is His Biggest Regret. See How It Grew Under His Watch.

By Yuval Rosenberg

Outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday that the ballooning national debt is his biggest regret. In an interview with The Washington Post , Ryan named the debt and immigration as the two...
Flood of US Debt Overwhelms Bond Funds

By Michael Rainey

The U.S. government will issue $129 billion of debt this week, a 28 percent increase over the same time last year, and the surge in borrowing is so great that it’s “beginning to warp bond indexes,”...

Is Trump Serious About Tackling the Deficit? Obviously Not

By Yuval Rosenberg

President Trump is demanding that his advisers come up with a plan to reduce the deficit, The Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey and Damian Paletta report . Oh, and President Trump is also pushing new...
Chart of the Day: Is Demand for US Debt Drying Up?

By Yuval Rosenberg

Bloomberg’s John Auther and The Washington Post’s Heather Long both highlight this chart from Deutsche Bank’s chief U.S. economist, Torsten Slok, showing weaker demand for 30-year Treasury bonds. “...
The Problem with Our $6 Trillion War Tab

By Yuval Rosenberg

We told you last week that the total long-term cost of post-9/11 wars is approaching $6 trillion , according to a report by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown...
Securing America’s Future Requires Political Courage Now

By Russ Latino

My son is five. He plays with Legos and digs old-school video games. My daughter is three. She likes dolls and is prone to uncontrollable giggling with no apparent provocation. Neither have much...
Deficit Hit $100 Billion in October

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The U.S. government spent $353 billion in October while revenues came in at $253 billion, producing a deficit of $100 billion. Receipts were 7 percent higher than a year ago, but spending was up 18...

Who Owns US Debt?

By The Fiscal Times Staff

At Bloomberg , bond strategist David Ader suggests that, while there are plenty of threats that could drive interest rates higher, the idea that foreigners are pulling back from U.S. debt isn’t one...
US Treasury to Borrow More Than $1.3 Trillion in 2018

By Michael Rainey

The U.S. Treasury said Monday it expects to issue about $425 billion in debt this quarter, raising its 2018 borrowing to more than $1.3 trillion, a 145 percent increase from the $546 billion issued...
US Debt Issuance Headed for a Record High

By Michael Rainey

Bond traders expect the U.S. Treasury to announce record-setting debt sales at the end of the month, Bloomberg’s Liz McCormick says : “Many strategists at primary-dealer firms predict that the...
Most Americans Haven't Heard Much About the Rising Deficit

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Treasury Department’s announcement last week that the federal budget deficit grew 17 percent to $779 billion in fiscal 2018, the highest level in six years, was pretty big news around these parts...
Bond Traders Shrug Off Massive Debt Auctions

By Michael Rainey

The U.S. Treasury is issuing $276 billion in debt this week as the deficit continues to soar in the wake of the tax cuts and higher government spending this year, with some specific bills and notes...