Deficit Attention Disorder

NPR | By Stacey Vanek Smith,

Published April 11, 2018 at 3:17 PM CDT

The U.S. economy is not in a cyclical downturn right now. In fact, it is growing. So you might think that the deficit would be shrinking every year.

But no. The Congressional Budget Office says the deficit will be going up for the next 10 years. It will reach a trillion dollars by 2020.

Jared Bernstein joined us to talk about whether that's a bad thing.

Business

Stacey Vanek Smith

Stacey Vanek Smith is the co-host of NPR's The Indicator from Planet Money, and is a correspondent for Planet Money.

Cardiff Garcia

Cardiff Garcia is a co-host of NPR's The Indicator from Planet Money podcast, along with Stacey Vanek Smith. He joined NPR in November 2017.