Economics

Skyrocketing Deficit? So What, Says New Washington Consensus

Many Democrats ask: If Trump can pile on debt, why can’t we?
Still-cautious party leaders are among DC’s last fiscal hawks

Stacks of U.S. $100 bills are arranged for a photograph in New York, U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013. — Stacks of U.S. $100 bills are arranged for a photograph in New York, U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013.Photographer: Scott Eells

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By Ben Holland and Jeanna Smialek

September 30, 2018 at 10:13 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

With its plaintive call for balanced budgets, the fiscal hawk once pervaded Washington. But it’s getting harder to spot one.

That’s because of President Donald Trump, and the equal-and-opposite reaction he’s provoked on the U.S. left.