Justin Wolfers

We're spending more and there's never been an appetite for raising the revenue. So I think you would think about that as a revenue problem. There has never been the political taste to get outlays down anywhere near the 16% of GDP that we take in. And now they're looking to cut that. That seems ass backwards. Let me say the whole thing in a different way.

We're spending more and there's never been an appetite for raising the revenue. So I think you would think about that as a revenue problem. There has never been the political taste to get outlays down anywhere near the 16% of GDP that we take in. And now they're looking to cut that. That seems ass backwards. Let me say the whole thing in a different way.

Budget deficit is currently 6.4% of GDP, to say that in English, large. A basic rule of thumb might be, what you want to do is during good economic times, suck a bit of money away, either to pay down the debt or to make sure it stops expanding. And also so you've got a bit more money to add to the pot when things go wrong, like during the COVID era.

Budget deficit is currently 6.4% of GDP, to say that in English, large. A basic rule of thumb might be, what you want to do is during good economic times, suck a bit of money away, either to pay down the debt or to make sure it stops expanding. And also so you've got a bit more money to add to the pot when things go wrong, like during the COVID era.

Budget deficit is currently 6.4% of GDP, to say that in English, large. A basic rule of thumb might be, what you want to do is during good economic times, suck a bit of money away, either to pay down the debt or to make sure it stops expanding. And also so you've got a bit more money to add to the pot when things go wrong, like during the COVID era.

6,4% ist der Art von Budget-Defizit, den Sie haben, wenn etwas falsch geht. Und dann werden sie das nehmen und Taxen zahlen. Also macht nichts davon Sinn. Das ist der erste Punkt, der ist, ich bin nicht wirklich ein Budget-Hawk. Ich bin nicht der Zentrum für einen verantwortlichen föderalen Budget. Mein persönlicher Budget ist ein Mess.

6,4% ist der Art von Budget-Defizit, den Sie haben, wenn etwas falsch geht. Und dann werden sie das nehmen und Taxen zahlen. Also macht nichts davon Sinn. Das ist der erste Punkt, der ist, ich bin nicht wirklich ein Budget-Hawk. Ich bin nicht der Zentrum für einen verantwortlichen föderalen Budget. Mein persönlicher Budget ist ein Mess.

6,4% ist der Art von Budget-Defizit, den Sie haben, wenn etwas falsch geht. Und dann werden sie das nehmen und Taxen zahlen. Also macht nichts davon Sinn. Das ist der erste Punkt, der ist, ich bin nicht wirklich ein Budget-Hawk. Ich bin nicht der Zentrum für einen verantwortlichen föderalen Budget. Mein persönlicher Budget ist ein Mess.

Es braucht viel, um mich über den föderalen Budget zu interessieren. I'm worried about the federal budget. I just think at some point, if unemployment is 4%, but you've got a deficit this large and growing, it's absurd. Yeah, or paying huge interest on the debt too.

Es braucht viel, um mich über den föderalen Budget zu interessieren. I'm worried about the federal budget. I just think at some point, if unemployment is 4%, but you've got a deficit this large and growing, it's absurd. Yeah, or paying huge interest on the debt too.

Es braucht viel, um mich über den föderalen Budget zu interessieren. I'm worried about the federal budget. I just think at some point, if unemployment is 4%, but you've got a deficit this large and growing, it's absurd. Yeah, or paying huge interest on the debt too.

And we've had the so-called sell America trade happening recently, in which the rest of the world has started to understand or believe that investing money in America is no longer the safest bet in town. As a result, the interest rates, it was a big story four weeks ago, it's less of a story now, but if you have an irresponsible budget, it's going to zoom back into the headlines.

And we've had the so-called sell America trade happening recently, in which the rest of the world has started to understand or believe that investing money in America is no longer the safest bet in town. As a result, the interest rates, it was a big story four weeks ago, it's less of a story now, but if you have an irresponsible budget, it's going to zoom back into the headlines.

And we've had the so-called sell America trade happening recently, in which the rest of the world has started to understand or believe that investing money in America is no longer the safest bet in town. As a result, the interest rates, it was a big story four weeks ago, it's less of a story now, but if you have an irresponsible budget, it's going to zoom back into the headlines.

If you feel that you can no longer trust the US government, then the interest they charge us goes up. And for your listeners, if you've ever done the calculation, what would happen to your mortgage payments if the bank were to raise the interest rate by half a percentage point, do that math, but do it with trillions of dollars of debt. It's terrifying.

If you feel that you can no longer trust the US government, then the interest they charge us goes up. And for your listeners, if you've ever done the calculation, what would happen to your mortgage payments if the bank were to raise the interest rate by half a percentage point, do that math, but do it with trillions of dollars of debt. It's terrifying.

If you feel that you can no longer trust the US government, then the interest they charge us goes up. And for your listeners, if you've ever done the calculation, what would happen to your mortgage payments if the bank were to raise the interest rate by half a percentage point, do that math, but do it with trillions of dollars of debt. It's terrifying.

The second thing to say about this budget is just the extraordinary redistribution involved. Bobby Kogan, who's one of the best budget wonks I know, says this might be the largest redistribution from the poor to the rich in American history.

The second thing to say about this budget is just the extraordinary redistribution involved. Bobby Kogan, who's one of the best budget wonks I know, says this might be the largest redistribution from the poor to the rich in American history.

The second thing to say about this budget is just the extraordinary redistribution involved. Bobby Kogan, who's one of the best budget wonks I know, says this might be the largest redistribution from the poor to the rich in American history.