Economics
Republican Balanced-Budget Aim Clashes With Fiscal Realities
- GOP applauded by budget experts for focusing on the deficit
- Fresh estimates set to show magnitude of fiscal challenges
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy
Photographer: Ting Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has declared his intent to put the US “on a path to a balanced budget” within 10 years, a goal that runs headlong into stark political and fiscal realities.
With the nation’s debt load having more than doubled in 11 years, to over $31 trillion, it’s an idea that enjoys public support. But balancing the budget is practically impossible without touching Social Security and Medicare — which both parties made clear during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech they wouldn’t threaten — or raising taxes, former officials and economists warn.