How the Anti-Debt ‘Deficit Fundamentalists’ Were Proven Right

The risks associated with high levels of debt are never about what we can afford while rates are low.

AP/Mary Altaffer
The national debt clock at Manhattan on May 25, 2023. AP/Mary Altaffer

Some policy experts who, over the last few decades, saw little need for serious fiscal austerity because the government could borrow at low-interest rates are now changing their tune. Their argument is that with rates now rising and the government’s interest payments set to become extremely expensive, it’s time to adjust. While I suppose that’s progress, they fail to see that the past calls for austerity were attempts to avoid precisely what’s happening today.

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