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

U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson encounters Brexit defeat during his new premiership.

Chanel Holden

2019-10-15 09:13:00 Tuesday ET

U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson encounters Brexit defeat during his new premiership.

U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson encounters defeat during his new premiership. The first major vote would pave the path of least resistance to passing a no

+See More

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe outlines the main economic priorities for the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.

Laura Hermes

2019-07-13 07:17:00 Saturday ET

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe outlines the main economic priorities for the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe outlines the main economic priorities for the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. First, Asian countries need to forge the key Re

+See More

Former Fed Chair Paul Volcker releases his memoir, talks about American public governance, and worries about plutocracy in America.

Apple Boston

2018-10-23 12:36:00 Tuesday ET

Former Fed Chair Paul Volcker releases his memoir, talks about American public governance, and worries about plutocracy in America.

Former Fed Chair Paul Volcker releases his memoir, talks about American public governance, and worries about plutocracy in America. Volcker suggests that pu

+See More

Warren Buffett approves Berkshire Hathaway to implement new meaningful stock repurchases.

Dan Rochefort

2018-11-15 12:35:00 Thursday ET

Warren Buffett approves Berkshire Hathaway to implement new meaningful stock repurchases.

Warren Buffett approves Berkshire Hathaway to implement new meaningful stock repurchases. Buffett sends a positive signal to the stock market with the Berks

+See More

Apple upstream suppliers such as Foxconn and Pegatron experience sharp share price declines during the Christmas 2017 holiday quarter.

Jacob Miramar

2018-11-21 11:36:00 Wednesday ET

Apple upstream suppliers such as Foxconn and Pegatron experience sharp share price declines during the Christmas 2017 holiday quarter.

Apple upstream suppliers from Foxconn and Pegatron to Radiance and Lumentum experience sharp share price declines during the Christmas 2017 holiday quarter.

+See More

U.S. judiciary subcommittee delves into the market dominance of online platforms in terms of the antitrust, commercial, and administrative law in America.

Daphne Basel

2021-11-22 11:29:00 Monday ET

U.S. judiciary subcommittee delves into the market dominance of online platforms in terms of the antitrust, commercial, and administrative law in America.

U.S. judiciary subcommittee delves into the market dominance of online platforms in terms of the antitrust, commercial, and administrative law in America.

+See More