Lyn Alden

The US debt crisis is set to become significantly worse: Entitlements, interest, and other mandatory outlays are estimated to consistently surpass Federal tax revenues by 2031, according to CBO. These expenditures are projected to rise to ~20% of GDP by 2040. That would be the highest percentage on record when excluding the 2020 and 2021 pandemic period. Net interest alone is estimated to reach 5% of GDP, an all-time high. At the same time, tax revenues are expected to increase only modestly, to 18% of GDP, the highest since 2020. To put this into perspective, tax revenues as a % of GDP exceeded entitlements, interest, and other mandatory outlays by 8 percentage points in 2000. What is the long-term plan here?