Aging into red ink: Dearth of workers is driving the debt trajectory
Congress is operating at a sprinter’s pace this week to get the One B i g Beautiful Bill across the finish line. The fiscal hawks in both chambers are pushing for deeper spending cuts but, aside from some relatively minor cuts to Medicaid, most of the heated debate surrounds categories of outlays that won’t bend the spending trajectory downward. Economist Paul Krugman, among others, has stated that the US government is “an insurance company with an army” and this characterization is instructive. Cutting discretionary programs around the edges won’t change the big picture. The real drivers of ...