It was not so long ago that the hottest topic in American politics was the ballooning national debt. In 1992 Ross Perot had the best showing for a third-party candidate in a presidential election since 1912 on a platform of fiscal probity. Two years later the Republicans seized control of Congress for the first time in 40 years, with the first item in their \u201cContract with America\u201d being a pledge to balance the budget. Bill Clinton easily won re-election two years after that, in part by negotiating spending cuts with Republicans that led to America\u2019s first surpluses in a generation.<\/p>\n
At the start of this fiscal hullabaloo, in 1992, America\u2019s net debt amounted to 46% of gdp. Today it has reached 96% of gdp. For the past five years, under first Donald Trump and then Joe Biden, the federal deficit has averaged 9% of gdp a year. The International Monetary Fund says that America\u2019s borrowing is so vast it is endangering global financial stability. s&p and Fitch, two credit-rating agencies, have already downgraded America\u2019s debt; a third, Moody\u2019s, is threatening to.<\/p>\n
Yet concern about deficits and debt has all but vanished from American politics. Voters seem relaxed about the subject, which barely registers in pollsters\u2019 tallies of the biggest problems facing the country. Although Messrs Biden and Trump both tut-tut about the dire fiscal outlook from time to time, neither has made improving it a centrepiece of his campaign. On the contrary, both would in all likelihood add to America\u2019s debts, by spending more in Mr Biden\u2019s case and by taxing less in Mr Trump\u2019s. Neither candidate dares breathe a word about trimming spending on health care and pensions for the elderly, which account for the biggest share of the federal budget and are set to grow still bigger as the population ages. Yet a fiscal reckoning is coming, whether the candidates admit it or not\u2014and given the politicians\u2019 denial, it may take an unexpected form.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a> (registration or subscription).<\/p>\n In the 1990s the hottest topic in American politics was the ballooning national debt. In 1992 this amounted to 46% of GDP; today it has reached 96%. Yet Joe Biden and Donald Trump are all but ignoring this https:\/\/t.co\/S3QseVdONa<\/a> 👇<\/p>\n — The Economist (@TheEconomist) May 5, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n