For the last three years, our country’s political debate has centered around the federal budget and deficit reduction. But both the underlying fiscal landscape and the broader economic context for the debate have now shifted in very important ways: We have enacted significant deficit reduction and health care cost growth has slowed resulting in substantially improved medium- and long- term fiscal outlooks. Meanwhile, recent events, especially in Europe, have called the intellectual cases for austerity and immediate debt reduction into question.
Given these changes, is it time to reset the fiscal debate? How much emphasis should Washington place on debt reduction? How can we balance the need for economic growth with addressing remaining budgetary pressures? Is a “Grand Bargain” an impossible mirage or the best way forward? Please join the Center for American Progress and our distinguished panel of experts for a spirited discussion of these and other questions.
Featured panelists:
Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorites
Bob Bixby, Executive Director, Concord Coalition
Maya MacGuineas, President, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
Neera Tanden, President, Center for American Progress
Moderated by:
David Leonhardt, Washington bureau chief, The New York Times