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

Clayton Christensen defines the core dilemma of corporate innovation with sustainable and disruptive advances.

Daisy Harvey

2020-04-17 07:23:00 Friday ET

Clayton Christensen defines the core dilemma of corporate innovation with sustainable and disruptive advances.

Clayton Christensen defines and delves into the core dilemma of corporate innovation with sustainable and disruptive advances. Clayton Christensen (2000)

+See More

Several feasible near-term reforms can substantially narrow the scope for global tax avoidance by closing information loopholes.

Apple Boston

2023-03-14 16:43:00 Tuesday ET

Several feasible near-term reforms can substantially narrow the scope for global tax avoidance by closing information loopholes.

Several feasible near-term reforms can substantially narrow the scope for global tax avoidance by closing information loopholes. Thomas Pogge and Krishen

+See More

AYA Analytica podcast provides fresh insights into the latest stock market news, economic trends, and investment portfolio strategies.

Andy Yeh Alpha

2018-11-30 12:42:00 Friday ET

AYA Analytica podcast provides fresh insights into the latest stock market news, economic trends, and investment portfolio strategies.

Andy Yeh Alpha (AYA) AYA Analytica financial health memo (FHM) podcast channel on YouTube November 2018 AYA Analytica is our online regular podcast and news

+See More

Kobe Bryant and several other star athletes have been smart savvy investors.

Charlene Vos

2019-08-08 09:35:00 Thursday ET

Kobe Bryant and several other star athletes have been smart savvy investors.

Kobe Bryant and several other star athletes have been smart savvy investors. In collaboration with former Web.com CEO Jeff Stibel, the NBA champion invests

+See More

Main reasons for share repurchases

Apple Boston

2022-09-25 09:34:00 Sunday ET

Main reasons for share repurchases

Main reasons for share repurchases Temporary market undervaluation often induces corporate incumbents to initiate a share repurchase program to boost the

+See More

The May administration needs to seek a fresh fallback option for Halloween Brexit.

Peter Prince

2019-05-15 12:32:00 Wednesday ET

The May administration needs to seek a fresh fallback option for Halloween Brexit.

The May administration needs to seek a fresh fallback option for Halloween Brexit. After the House of Commons rejects Brexit proposals from the May administ

+See More