The Deficit | Articles and Blog Postings

Myths of the Deficit

By Marty Wolfson | April 23rd

Why do people think that it is more important for the government to reduce the deficit now, rather than to spend money to create jobs? Read more »
Church of Fiscal Conservatism

By Barry Deutsch | March 5th

Gospel of the Lord of the Deficit, a comic. See more »
Economic Rights, Then and Now

By Susan Feiner | Web-Only | Jan 11th

What is the state of the economic rights that FDR unveiled in his “Second Bill of Rights” 66 years ago? Read more »
Empire and Entitlements

By Arthur MacEwan | Jan 10th

Dear Dr. Dollar: In his book Colossus (2004), Niall Ferguson argues that a major problem with Social Security and Medicare is their underfunded liabilities—to the tune of $45 trillion. Can you comment on this claim? Read more »
The Economic Crisis in the States

By Gerald Friedman | December 9th

Two intrinsic features of the U.S. system of government come together to threaten a social disaster. Read more »
State Budget Blues

By Marianne Hill | December 9th

States are slashing budgets to close gaps that are averaging a jaw-dropping 24% this year. Read more »

The Economic Crisis in the States

By Gerald Friedman | December 9th

Two intrinsic features of the U.S. system of government come together to threaten a social disaster. Read more »
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Deficit

By John Miller | November 17th

You would have thought the budget deficit had morphed into Dr. Strangelove’s doomsday machine from the howling that followed the publication of Congressional Budget Office projections. Read more »
Fiscal Policy and “Crowding Out”

By Alejandro Reuss | May 15, 2009

Conservative economists argue that the massive government spending required for fiscal stimulus “crowds out” private spending. What was Keynes’ response? Read more »
Why are things getting worse?

By Arthur MacEwan | March/April 2009

Dear Dr. Dollar: I learned in my economics classes that in a market economy, problems tend to be self-correcting. So why don’t we see this kind of self-correction now? Read more »
War Spending, Deficits, and Economic Stimulus

By Arthur MacEwan | March/April 2008

Dear Dr. Dollar: Doesn't all the war spending stimulate the economy? And shouldn't the Bush tax cuts do the same? So why are we falling into recession? Read more »

Earlier articles from Dollars & Sense:

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Dollar Anxiety

By John Miller | Jan/Feb 2005

Global economic and military muscle allows the United States to be a debtor nation without paying the consequences. But will it last? Read more »
State Budgets in Crisis

By Ben Boothby | May/June 2003

How states are coping with the worst budget deficits since the Great Depression. Read more »
Balancing the Budgets: Who Will Pay?

By Chuck Collins| Mar/Apr 2002

How can states solve their fiscal dilemmas? By shifting the tax burden onto the well-to-do. Read more »