Runaway Spending and the Next Recession | City Journal

Runaway Spending and the Next Recession | City Journal - Stephen Miran

• Eating Our Seed Corn - Runaway spending is eroding America’s ability to respond to future economic downturns.

"In its latest monthly budget review, the Congressional Budget Office documented that the federal budget deficit in the first ten months of fiscal year 2023, clocking in at $1.6 trillion, was more than twice the shortfall during the same period in 2022...

• Another cause of spending increases is the interest burden from servicing the national debt, which has already widened the deficit by almost $150 billion. 

But while those spending increases are automatic adjustments mandated by law, other increases are not.

• For instance, the Biden administration expanded the definition of sport utility vehicles to include luxury sedans so that more cars would qualify for the expanded electric vehicle tax credits introduced by the highly inflationary Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). By playing language games to ensure that even $80,000 luxury sedans qualify for $7,500 taxpayer-funded credits...