Why comparing government and household spending doesn't quite work

Feb 16, 2023
It's like comparing apples and oranges, professor Golnaz Motie says, because the government has many more tools and huge immediate obligations.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has compared the federal debt ceiling to a household's credit limit.
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Does austerity have a hidden agenda?

Feb 8, 2023
A new book explores the historical relationship between austerity, the labor force, and fascism.
Pensioners march in Athens in 2018 during a demonstration to demand the return of pension funds lost as part of austerity measures. Clara Mattei, author of "The Capital Order," argues  that austerity reflects a deeper history of labor force suppression.
Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP via Getty Images

What will happen if the U.S. blows through the debt limit?

Sep 27, 2021
The economy would be in uncharted — and dangerous — territory.
Pay and hours are at the core of the unionization efforts.
Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images

With the 2,700-page infrastructure bill comes a lot of lobbying

Aug 5, 2021
Groups large and small are vying for a piece of the pie and seeking lobbyists' help in influencing senators.
While the U.S. Senate is finalizing the infrastructure bill, lobbyists are racing to make their voices heard.
Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images

Biden administration plans "whole of government" approach to fight climate change

Apr 22, 2021
The administration will work with domestic and international government agencies as well as private finance.
The Biden administration is arguing that climate change is already a crisis affecting the whole economy, meaning it needs a proportionate response.
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Infrastructure plan has positives and negatives for GDP

Apr 8, 2021
Infrastructure adds to gross domestic product, but interest rates can take away from it.
Lower-income workers have been able to raise their wages faster than middle and higher-income workers, says a new NBER working paper.
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Britain cuts foreign aid to help pay the cost of COVID-19

Jan 11, 2021
The decision to reduce overseas aid during the nation's economic contraction has provoked outrage, but it has also drawn support .
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak sits beside Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a  meeting in July. Sunak supported reducing the U.K.'s foreign aid budget by the equivalent of $600 billion.
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Biden faces economic obstacles beyond the pandemic's burdens

The list includes dwindling trust funds for Social Security and Medicare and potential bubbles in the housing and stock markets.
Biden will confront "headwinds unlike those that have ever been faced by any modern president," says Eugene Steuerle of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
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Even with a vaccine, global economic recovery will be starkly uneven — OECD

Dec 1, 2020
OECD chief economist Laurence Boone says governments must double down on providing support to avoid "scarring effects."
OECD chief economist Laurence Boone says children whose schooling has been affected by COVID-19 are among those likely to be "scarred" long-term.
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Republicans propose funding cuts to OSHA during pandemic

Nov 11, 2020
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says it has received more than 10,000 COVID-related complaints.
Loren Sweatt, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, responds to questions during a House subcommittee hearing on the federal government's actions to protect workers during COVID-19 on May 28, 2020 in Washington.
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