Bomgardner, Steven. “The Fiscal & Economic Impact of the National Debt.” Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Peter G. Peterson Foundation, 4 Sept. 2022, https://www.pgpf.org/the-fiscal-and-economic-challenge/fiscal-and-economic-impact.
Direct Quote: Growing debt also has a direct effect on the economic opportunities available to every American. If high levels of debt crowd out private investments in capital goods, workers would have less to use in their jobs, which would translate to lower productivity and, therefore, lower wages. On the other hand, reducing federal borrowing would counter such effects; according to CBO, income per person could increase by as much as $6,300 by 2050 if we were to reduce our debt to 79 percent of the size of the economy by that year.
Summary/My Interpretation: One of the most harmful aspects of the federal debt is the way in which it hinders the nation’s economy. In the US, the debt has been crowding out the private sectors as securities take money out of the system. This is problematic as it means there is less capital in flow, resulting in lower wages than otherwise expected.
How I Will Use This In My Project: I plan to use this website to further explain the exact process of how growing federal debt can lead to negative impacts on the middle class. Specifically, I want to use the narrative of capital being taken out of the system as a way of explaining how debt directly impacts the working class. Additionally, I also plan to use the last statistic in the quote as it is a concrete figure that estimates the impacts the debt is having.
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