As the already-unsustainable level of U.S. debt continues to grow, so too will its consequences for our nation’s economic and fiscal situation, warns a growingly diverse choir. Meanwhile, yet another dismal economic forecast again underscores the failure of U.S policymakers’ attempts to spend our way to balance and prosperity.
See excerpts from today’s key stories on the subject, below:
From The Hill:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton waded into the nation’s fiscal debate Wednesday, calling the expected $1.3 trillion U.S. deficit a “message of weakness internationally.”
“It poses a national security threat in two ways: it undermines our capacity to act in our own interest, and it does constrain us where constraint may be undesirable,” [said Clinton].
CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf has said that the debt, expected by his office to grow by nearly $1 trillion annually over the next decade and by increasingly larger amounts in years beyond, is on an unsustainable path.
Click here to read the entire story.
From The Washington Post:
Large deficits and a weakened financial system have made the United States less competitive in the global economy, the World Economic Forum said in its annual review of the competitiveness of countries.
The United States slipped from second to fourth in the survey, behind Switzerland, Sweden and Singapore. It had fallen from first place the year before.
The study includes statistical measures as well as a survey of business owners to compare countries. In the United States, the entrepreneurs cited access to credit and government regulation among their chief concerns.
But it was government debt and the country’s overall economic outlook that pushed the United States down in the rankings, said Irene Mia, senior economist at the forum.
Government debt affects a country’s competitiveness by limiting its ability to respond to crises or make infrastructure and other investments that could boost future productivity. It may also lead to higher interest rates.
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From Reuters:
Projected U.S. economic growth for the rest of this year and next was revised down for a third month in a row by a panel of about 50 economists.
The latest Blue Chip Economic Indicators report on Thursday said the weaker outlook for second-half 2010 growth stemmed from lower expectations for consumer spending, business investment and private construction.
“Given the depth of the recession, a forecast of roughly trend growth this year and next amounts to a very disappointing pace of recovery, with little progress expected to be made in lowering the unemployment rate,” the forecast said.
Its consensus forecast is that the U.S. unemployment rate will end this year at 9.6 percent and fall only to 9 percent by the end of 2011.
Click here to read the entire story.
