The EU balks at Italy's definition of debt

Nov 9, 2018
But what's Europe's definition based on, anyway?
 People stand in front of a 'debt clock' screen displaying the Italy's public debt at the Rome's Termini central station on February 15, 2018.
FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images

Paying lip service to the deficit

Nov 8, 2018
Politicians have been pretty quiet lately about the $800 billion budget deficit. That's about to change.
“Washington needs to find a way to spend less,” Mitch McConnell said in 2011, back when the Kentucky Republican was Senate minority leader. Above, he addresses the Value Voters Summit in Washington, D.C., in September. 
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Federal deficit rises to six-year high following last year's tax cut

Oct 16, 2018
The U.S. government is spending more and taking in less. The Treasury Department reported on Monday that the federal deficit has increased this past budget year to $779 billion, the largest deficit since 2012. The biggest culprit is last year’s Republican-backed tax overhaul, which cut tax rates for businesses and individuals. The tax law likely […]

Federal deficit rises to six-year high following last year's tax cut

Oct 16, 2018
The U.S. government is spending more and taking in less. The Treasury Department reported on Monday that the federal deficit has increased this past budget year to $779 billion, the largest deficit since 2012. The biggest culprit is last year’s Republican-backed tax overhaul, which cut tax rates for businesses and individuals. The tax law likely […]

Fed Chair Jay Powell: We’re “independent of political considerations”

Jul 12, 2018
In a 30 minute conversation, Chairman Powell discusses tariffs, political pressure on the Fed and wage stagnation.
Jerome Powell listens as President Trump announces Powell as nominee for Chairman of the Federal Reserve in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, November 2, 2017.
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Are we too worried about inflation, but not worried enough about deficits?

Feb 16, 2018
We take a look at the Republican Party's flip-flop on debt.
Kevin Hassett, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, at a daily White House briefing in November.
Mandel NganAFP/Getty Images

Should you worry about the national debt?

Feb 16, 2018
We have short-term focus but a long-term problem.
Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney testifies before the Senate Budget Committee Tuesday on the 2019 budget proposal released the day before.
Win McNamee/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

U.S. government shuts down for the second time in 2018

Feb 8, 2018
The shutdown came after Kentucky Senator Rand Paul blocked a vote on the budget plan.
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

The GOP tax plan just got more expensive

Nov 8, 2017
A new estimate by the Congressional Budget Office says the plan could add $1.7 trillion to the deficit
Committee chairman Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) and ranking member Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) confer with aides before the start of a House Ways and Means Committee hearing concerning the Trump administration's fiscal year 2018 budget proposals, on Capitol Hill, May 24, 2017 in Washington, DC.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

What it means to close the 'dignity gap'

Mar 7, 2017
AEI president argues that the poor need an American culture that values them.
"Something like a third of the American population is starting to express pretty grave doubts in their ability to earn their success in the United States," says Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute. Above, people wait in line at a jobs fair in Sunrise, Florida.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images