In a special event on March 10, Wendy Edelberg from the Brookings Institution, and Brian Riedl, from the Manhattan Institute, debated the federal government’s role in the economy as the nation moves past the pandemic. Award-winning journalist and author Laura Knoy moderated the online conversation, which included questions from the audience.
The webinar was sponsored by the Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership & Public Service and The Concord Coalition, with generous support from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.
Ms. Edelberg is the director of The Hamilton Project and a senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. A macroeconomist, her research has spanned a range of topics from household spending to the economic effects of fiscal policy. Mr. Riedl is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, where he focuses on budget, tax, and economic policy.
They noted that the U.S. national debt has reached an unprecedented level, with Mr. Riedl explaining that debt held by the public equals about $177,000 per household. Both underscored that while the United States isn’t facing imminent financial danger, existing spending policies leave the country on an unsustainable path that the pandemic has accelerated. Growing debt could eventually lead to low economic growth, inflation, and higher taxes.
Throughout the conversation, Ms. Edelberg and Mr. Riedl touched upon various topics including defense spending, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, modern monetary theory, social security, and healthy debt levels.
View the entire event here. Read a summary of the panel discussion in the Concord Coalition’s blog post and listen to excerpts from the program on Face the Future, The Concord Coalition’s weekly radio show on WKXL in Concord.
About the Warren B. Rudman Center and The Concord Coalition
The Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership & Public Service at the UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law provides programmatic and financial support for students interested in exploring careers in public service while supporting public programming and academic inquiry that align with its mission.
The Concord Coalition was founded in 1992 and is celebrating its 30th year as a nonpartisan, nonprofit grassroots organization that educates on the importance of addressing America’s long-term debt crisis and enacting generationally-responsible federal fiscal policy and a pro-growth economic agenda.
Generous Support from the Peterson Foundation
The Peter G. Peterson Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that is dedicated to increasing public awareness of the nature and urgency of key fiscal challenges threatening America's future, and to accelerating action on them.
