insights
Welcome to our insights page. Explore our primers to get the foundational facts about the programs that contribute to our budget, debt, and deficits. Consider different options to address our debt and deficits, including the trade-offs required. Learn about different tools and approaches for long-term thinking about these issues. Enjoy!
Video: Why Spending Discipline Should Come Before Tax Increases
While a solution to our massive $2.1 trillion deficits will likely involve a combination of spending cuts and tax reform, if only to find compromise between both parties, there is a logical argument to be made that spending discipline should come before any tax increases. This video makes the case….
Video: The US Healthcare System is Eating Our Economy!
Healthcare is the largest part of the US government (all healthcare programs combined), extremely complex, and growing faster than our economy. If we are serious about addressing our huge deficits and debt, we need to reform our public healthcare programs. There are no easy options and we hope that this video lays out some of […]
Video: Do Term Limits Make Sense?
This video explains how old members of Congress are, how long they have served, and whether older members tend to have more concentrated power than other members. We conclude that while term limits make sense, they will not be sufficient to stop the uncontrolled spending by our government. For that, if we continue to lack […]
America’s Budget Process is Insane
Who in Washington is actually responsible for pulling all of this together and fixing it? This video answers that question, with the transcript that follows. The surprising answer is: There really isn’t one person or committee in charge of the entire federal budget. And that helps explain why fixing our fiscal problems is so difficult. […]
Video: Why Our Debt is So High – Diffuse Costs
It used to be that our government paid for costs as they arose and maintained a pay-as-you-go fiscal discipline. Not any more. One reason is that politicians have figured out that it is much easier to promise things today and borrow for them so that no one feels the cost today. This video explains the […]
Video: The Shift From Civil Rights to Economic Rights Has Led to Huge Spending
One of the reasons we are in the debt and deficit troubles we face now is because, over at least a century, we have shifted priorities from civil rights to economic rights. Both have always been important, but the idea that government must provide for economic “rights” has led us to incur massive current and […]
Video: The US Healthcare System is Eating Our Economy!
Healthcare is the largest part of the US government (all healthcare programs combined), extremely complex, and growing faster than our economy. If we are serious about addressing our huge deficits and debt, we need to reform our public healthcare programs. There are no easy options and we hope that this video lays out some of […]
Video: U.S. Debt and Deficit – Our Biggest Threat as a Nation?
Please enjoy our most recent video explaining the U.S. Debt and Deficit.
A Primer on How Congress Funds the Government—and Why It Gets So Confusing
On paper, the federal budgeting process is relatively straightforward. Each year, Congress is supposed to set an overall budget framework and then pass a series of spending bills before the fiscal year begins on October 1. If that happened consistently, the process would be predictable and easier for the public to follow. In practice, it […]
U.S. Defense Spending Primer: Military Budget, Costs and Global Role
National defense spending funds: The military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Space Force) Operations, training, and readiness Weapons systems and equipment Intelligence and national security support It is one of the core and uniquely federal functions of government. Scale Current Spending: ~$917 billion (~13% of total federal spending; fourth largest category) Per person: ~$2,750 Per […]
Social Security Primer: Costs, Trust Fund Risks and Reform Options
Social Security is a federal program that provides retirement income, disability benefits, and survivor benefits (for families of deceased workers). It is primarily funded through payroll taxes paid by workers. Scale Total Spending: ~$1.65 trillion (~24% of total federal spending; largest federal program) Per person: ~$4,940 Per household: ~$12,200 Covers ~65–70 million Americans How It […]
Interest on the Federal Debt Primer: Why U.S. Interest Costs Are Surging
Interest on the debt is the cost of borrowing money to fund past deficits. When the government runs deficits, it issues debt. Over time, it must pay interest on that debt to investors. This spending does not fund programs or services. It is the cost of prior decisions. Scale Total Spending: ~$970 billion (~14% of […]
Video: Why Spending Discipline Should Come Before Tax Increases
While a solution to our massive $2.1 trillion deficits will likely involve a combination of spending cuts and tax reform, if only to find compromise between both parties, there is a logical argument to be made that spending discipline should come before any tax increases. This video makes the case….
Video: The US Healthcare System is Eating Our Economy!
Healthcare is the largest part of the US government (all healthcare programs combined), extremely complex, and growing faster than our economy. If we are serious about addressing our huge deficits and debt, we need to reform our public healthcare programs. There are no easy options and we hope that this video lays out some of […]
Video: Do Term Limits Make Sense?
This video explains how old members of Congress are, how long they have served, and whether older members tend to have more concentrated power than other members. We conclude that while term limits make sense, they will not be sufficient to stop the uncontrolled spending by our government. For that, if we continue to lack […]
America’s Budget Process is Insane
Who in Washington is actually responsible for pulling all of this together and fixing it? This video answers that question, with the transcript that follows. The surprising answer is: There really isn’t one person or committee in charge of the entire federal budget. And that helps explain why fixing our fiscal problems is so difficult. […]
Video: Why Our Debt is So High – Diffuse Costs
It used to be that our government paid for costs as they arose and maintained a pay-as-you-go fiscal discipline. Not any more. One reason is that politicians have figured out that it is much easier to promise things today and borrow for them so that no one feels the cost today. This video explains the […]
Video: The Shift From Civil Rights to Economic Rights Has Led to Huge Spending
One of the reasons we are in the debt and deficit troubles we face now is because, over at least a century, we have shifted priorities from civil rights to economic rights. Both have always been important, but the idea that government must provide for economic “rights” has led us to incur massive current and […]
Video: Why Spending Discipline Should Come Before Tax Increases
While a solution to our massive $2.1 trillion deficits will likely involve a combination of spending cuts and tax reform, if only to find compromise between both parties, there is a logical argument to be made that spending discipline should come before any tax increases. This video makes the case….
Video: The US Healthcare System is Eating Our Economy!
Healthcare is the largest part of the US government (all healthcare programs combined), extremely complex, and growing faster than our economy. If we are serious about addressing our huge deficits and debt, we need to reform our public healthcare programs. There are no easy options and we hope that this video lays out some of […]
Video: Why Our Debt is So High – Diffuse Costs
It used to be that our government paid for costs as they arose and maintained a pay-as-you-go fiscal discipline. Not any more. One reason is that politicians have figured out that it is much easier to promise things today and borrow for them so that no one feels the cost today. This video explains the […]
Video: The Shift From Civil Rights to Economic Rights Has Led to Huge Spending
One of the reasons we are in the debt and deficit troubles we face now is because, over at least a century, we have shifted priorities from civil rights to economic rights. Both have always been important, but the idea that government must provide for economic “rights” has led us to incur massive current and […]
Can we really cut expenses enough to balance the budget deficit?
What if we balanced our $2 trillion U.S. Government deficit just by cutting programs? The chart below shows that the “easy” fixes only get us to about a quarter of the goal. Then we have no choice but to look at the biggest programs, including defense, programs for our veterans, Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. […]
Video: How to Fix Social Security
This video explains why Social Security is in trouble and a number of options to fix it. Enjoy!
Video: Why Spending Discipline Should Come Before Tax Increases
While a solution to our massive $2.1 trillion deficits will likely involve a combination of spending cuts and tax reform, if only to find compromise between both parties, there is a logical argument to be made that spending discipline should come before any tax increases. This video makes the case….
Video: What if we cut the deficit just by raising taxes?
What would it take to cut our $2 trillion annual deficits without cutting any spending, but instead just by raising taxes? Following is one scenario, explained on video and with a chart that follows with the numbers quoted. This is not a policy recommendation. It is only meant to show how challenging our deficit numbers […]
Closing in on a Solution to Our Deficit: The Two Tiers of Deficit Reduction
This article is an attempt to think through the federal deficit in stages, starting with the relatively lower-pain options before moving into the more difficult structural choices. (See a different approach that still arrives at similar conclusions here). The first tier discussed below focuses on reforms that could plausibly reduce deficits without fundamentally changing the […]
Why Capital Gains Tax Reform Won’t Solve the U.S. Deficit
A lot of people look at capital gains taxes and assume there is meaningful money to be found. The intuition is understandable. Large fortunes, significant stock gains, valuable real estate—this feels like the place where the government could raise serious revenue. But the reality is more constrained. Even fairly aggressive changes to the capital gains […]
How Much Can Corporate Tax Change Fix the Deficit
Corporate taxes are an easy place for people to look for ideas to reduce our deficit and debt. Corporations can feel abstract—large, distant, and often associated with profits and executive pay. That makes them a politically safe target. But corporations are also employers, investors, and the main vehicle through which capital flows into the economy. […]
Why “Tax the Rich” Alone Can’t Solve Our Deficit Problem
It’s an appealing idea. The numbers at the top are large, the need is large, and the logic feels straightforward: raise taxes on the wealthy and close the gap. But when you walk through the math, it doesn’t work. There might be an argument to be made that the wealthy can contribute more, questions of […]
Why Economic Growth Isn’t Enough to Solve the U.S. Deficit and Debt
It is one of the most common promises in American politics: we do not need painful choices, because strong economic growth will take care of the debt for us. Lower taxes, fewer regulations, more business activity—growth will rise, revenues will follow, and the problem will shrink on its own. There is some truth in that […]
Why the U.S. Can’t Just Print Money and Inflate Its Way Out of Debt
It’s an appealing idea. If the government owes tens of trillions of dollars, why not let the government printing machine run and have inflation shrink the burden over time? Prices rise, incomes rise, and debt—fixed in nominal dollars—becomes easier to carry. There is some truth in the sense that reasonable inflation can help minimize the […]
Video: Do Term Limits Make Sense?
This video explains how old members of Congress are, how long they have served, and whether older members tend to have more concentrated power than other members. We conclude that while term limits make sense, they will not be sufficient to stop the uncontrolled spending by our government. For that, if we continue to lack […]
America’s Budget Process is Insane
Who in Washington is actually responsible for pulling all of this together and fixing it? This video answers that question, with the transcript that follows. The surprising answer is: There really isn’t one person or committee in charge of the entire federal budget. And that helps explain why fixing our fiscal problems is so difficult. […]
Video: Why Our Debt is So High – Diffuse Costs
It used to be that our government paid for costs as they arose and maintained a pay-as-you-go fiscal discipline. Not any more. One reason is that politicians have figured out that it is much easier to promise things today and borrow for them so that no one feels the cost today. This video explains the […]
Video: Performance Review for US Congress
Imagine you were evaluating Congress the same way you would evaluate the executive leadership team of a company. What would their annual performance review look like? See the video for our take, and a transcript that follows. Let’s use five common leadership categories: Financial Management Strategy Oversight & Program Management Legislative Effectiveness Accountability And we’ll […]
Where We Dig In on the U.S. Debt and Deficits — And Why It Keeps Us Stuck
The debate over deficits and debt in the United States is not short on ideas, but it is short on movement. Many citizens and elected officials are digging in their heals on positions where voters feel strongly and politicians face consequences for compromise. Each position has logic behind it, which is why it persists. Each […]
A Primer on How Congress Funds the Government—and Why It Gets So Confusing
On paper, the federal budgeting process is relatively straightforward. Each year, Congress is supposed to set an overall budget framework and then pass a series of spending bills before the fiscal year begins on October 1. If that happened consistently, the process would be predictable and easier for the public to follow. In practice, it […]
Video: The Shift From Civil Rights to Economic Rights Has Led to Huge Spending
One of the reasons we are in the debt and deficit troubles we face now is because, over at least a century, we have shifted priorities from civil rights to economic rights. Both have always been important, but the idea that government must provide for economic “rights” has led us to incur massive current and […]
Video: One scenario for balancing our budget and eliminating our $2 trillion deficits
This video shows one scenario to eliminate our $2 trillion annual deficits with a combination of spending and tax reform. This is just one scenario. You can play with the numbers using any AI program and see what you think. Perhaps you want more, or even only, spending cuts like in this previous post/video. Perhaps […]
Video: What if we cut the deficit just by raising taxes?
What would it take to cut our $2 trillion annual deficits without cutting any spending, but instead just by raising taxes? Following is one scenario, explained on video and with a chart that follows with the numbers quoted. This is not a policy recommendation. It is only meant to show how challenging our deficit numbers […]
Can we really cut expenses enough to balance the budget deficit?
What if we balanced our $2 trillion U.S. Government deficit just by cutting programs? The chart below shows that the “easy” fixes only get us to about a quarter of the goal. Then we have no choice but to look at the biggest programs, including defense, programs for our veterans, Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. […]
Socialism and America? Six countries, six case studies
There’s a lot of talk and concern about Socialism coming to the USA. There seems to be a growing faction of people that want to change America into a Socialist model. But which model? This video explores 6 case studies of Socialism, four from Revolutionary Socialism, and two from Social Democracies that the Democratic Socialists […]
Video: U.S. Debt and Deficit – Our Biggest Threat as a Nation?
Please enjoy our most recent video explaining the U.S. Debt and Deficit.
Video: Why Our Debt is So High – Diffuse Costs
It used to be that our government paid for costs as they arose and maintained a pay-as-you-go fiscal discipline. Not any more. One reason is that politicians have figured out that it is much easier to promise things today and borrow for them so that no one feels the cost today. This video explains the […]
Strategic Thinking and the Debt: What Is America Trying to Do?
One reason the debt and deficit debate feels so chaotic is that the United States rarely talks clearly about strategy. Strategy is a tool that enables long term thinking, whether about a business, non-profit organization, or government. Businesses do this constantly. Strong companies know what they are trying to accomplish, what they are not trying […]
Video: Milton Friedman’s Four Ways to Spend Money—and What It Means for Government Debt
Long-term thinking about government spending requires more than good intentions. It requires understanding the incentives built into the system itself. One of the clearest ways to see those incentives comes from Milton Friedman, who described four basic ways money gets spent. The framework is simple, but it explains a great deal about why government spending […]
First Principles for Thinking Long Term About Debt and Deficits
Most conversations about the deficit go straight to solutions. Cut this. Tax that. Eliminate waste. Everyone has a view on what should happen. Before getting into specific policies, it is worth stepping back and establishing a few first principles that any serious deficit reduction plan must follow. That is the purpose of this piece. If […]
How to Tell When You’re Stuck in the Political Noise
The Daily Flood of Urgency Modern politics is engineered to feel urgent all the time. A controversial quote, a viral clip, a misstep by a public figure, a procedural fight in Congress, a new poll showing a two-point swing: each arrives with the tone of something that demands immediate attention. Social media amplifies this by […]
Seeing the Whole System: What Peter Senge Can Teach Us About Debt and Deficits
Most of the debate around deficits and debt happens at the surface—this program versus that tax, this year’s budget versus next year’s. Peter Senge built his career arguing that this is exactly why complex problems persist. His work focuses on systems thinking: the idea that outcomes are produced not by isolated decisions, but by the […]
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