The U.S. federal government debt has risen from less than 40% of total GDP about a decade ago to 78% as of May 2018.

John Fourier

2018-06-01 07:30:00 Fri ET

The U.S. federal government debt has risen from less than 40% of total GDP about a decade ago to 78% as of May 2018. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that this ratio will surge to 96% in 2028. Although many blame the Trump tax cuts as the key root cause, the increases in health care and retirement benefits suggest a different real reason for U.S. deficit severity.

Harvard professor Martin Feldstein attributes the recent rise of U.S. budget deficit from 4% to 5% of total GDP to increases in Medicare and social security retirement benefits for middle-class older Americans. These increases in core health care and retirement benefits account for about 2.7% of total GDP. The neoclassical Sargent-Wallace thesis suggests that the central bank cannot finance incessant increases in core deficits with government bond issuance regardless of money supply growth. This money supply expansion would lead to inexorable inflationary pressures that defeat the dual mandate of both maximum employment and price stability in the suboptimal fiscal-monetary policy coordination. Inflation serves as a seigniorage tax that would in turn dampen real macroeconomic variates such as household consumption, capital investment, labor supply, and total economic output. In light of this ripple effect on sustainable financial market growth and prosperity, the law of inadvertent consequences counsels caution.

 


If any of our AYA Analytica financial health memos (FHM), blog posts, ebooks, newsletters, and notifications etc, or any other form of online content curation, involves potential copyright concerns, please feel free to contact us at service@ayafintech.network so that we can remove relevant content in response to any such request within a reasonable time frame.

Blog+More

Stock Synopsis: With a new Python program, we use, adapt, apply, and leverage each of the mainstream Gemini Gen AI models to conduct this comprehensive fundamental analysis of T-Mobile (U.S. stock symbol: $TMUS).

James Campbell

2025-10-06 10:27:00 Monday ET

Stock Synopsis: With a new Python program, we use, adapt, apply, and leverage each of the mainstream Gemini Gen AI models to conduct this comprehensive fundamental analysis of T-Mobile (U.S. stock symbol: $TMUS).

Stock Synopsis: With a new Python program, we use, adapt, apply, and leverage each of the mainstream Gemini Gen AI models to conduct this comprehensive fund

+See More

The Trump administration blames China for egregious currency misalignment.

Olivia London

2018-10-17 12:33:00 Wednesday ET

The Trump administration blames China for egregious currency misalignment.

The Trump administration blames China for egregious currency misalignment, but this criticism cannot confirm *currency manipulation* on the part of the Chin

+See More

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposes greater public debt finance with minimal tax increases for the Green New Deal.

James Campbell

2019-03-23 09:31:00 Saturday ET

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposes greater public debt finance with minimal tax increases for the Green New Deal.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposes greater public debt finance with minimal tax increases for the Green New Deal. In accordance with the modern

+See More

The U.S. federal government debt has risen from less than 40% of total GDP about a decade ago to 78% as of May 2018.

John Fourier

2018-06-01 07:30:00 Friday ET

The U.S. federal government debt has risen from less than 40% of total GDP about a decade ago to 78% as of May 2018.

The U.S. federal government debt has risen from less than 40% of total GDP about a decade ago to 78% as of May 2018. The Congressional Budget Office predict

+See More

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicates that the central bank would resume Treasury purchases to avoid turmoil in money markets.

James Campbell

2019-11-09 16:38:00 Saturday ET

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicates that the central bank would resume Treasury purchases to avoid turmoil in money markets.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicates that the central bank would resume Treasury purchases to avoid turmoil in money markets. Powell indicates t

+See More

Apple adds fresh features to its new iPad Pro and MacBook Air in addition to its prior suite of iPhones.

Joseph Corr

2018-11-03 11:36:00 Saturday ET

Apple adds fresh features to its new iPad Pro and MacBook Air in addition to its prior suite of iPhones.

Apple adds fresh features to its new iPad Pro and MacBook Air in addition to its prior suite of iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR back in September 20

+See More