Relevance: Fiscal spending by the U.S. government increased by ~50% from the fiscal year 2019 to the fiscal year 2021, largely due to pandemic spending programs. The tax cuts passed by the Trump Administration in 2017 contributed to the growing federal debt because they reduced tax intake by an estimated $1-2T. What's next: It is still unclear if the GOP majority in the House of Representatives and the Democratic majority in the Senate will agree on a budget and debt ceiling package. In early March, MSCI, an investment company, estimated that the chances of a U.S. debt default tripled in the first two months of the year. |
What the numbers say: News reports about the federal debt ceiling have brought renewed attention to the U.S. federal debt, which is currently worth