The Unites States federal debt has been growing for a long time. Last week, it hit $22 trillion.
鈥淚 certainly think it鈥檚 something we should be worried about,鈥� says , the Ani and Mark Gabrellian Professor and聽 at the University of Rochester. 鈥淔ederal debt held by the public is now at 80 percent of our gross domestic product. We haven鈥檛 seen that percentage since 1950, basically not since the aftermath of World War II.鈥�
Primo appeared recently on Wisconsin Public Radio where he talked to Rob Ferrett, host of WPR鈥檚聽Central Time,聽about the US debt, budget spending, and the outlook for economic growth and interest rates.
鈥淭he problem is that, yes, the economy is doing well, but it鈥檚 not doing well relative to our level of fiscal responsibility. The fact is, we spend more every year than we take in. We鈥檝e been doing this pretty consistently for the last few decades,鈥� Primo says. 鈥淓ventually there鈥檚 going to be a crisis if we don鈥檛 do something.鈥�
Primo is an expert in American politics, campaign finance, and the federal debt. His research focuses on budget rules, corporate social responsibility, corporate political spending, and the effectiveness of campaign finance laws. His second book 聽(University of Chicago Press, 2007) looks at the design and enforcement of budget rules. His third book,聽聽(Oxford University Press, 2012), co-authored with Kevin Clarke, examines the role of models, both theoretical and statistical, in social science research.
- which starts at 23 minutes into the show segment.
