That all depends on which economist 's thinking is correct, though most agree that the deficits impact us more than the debt.
Volker's vision was for the long term to control inflation.
What he didn't consider is that there are unpredictable forces that require immediate intervention, which is what Greenspan did immediately after his appointment.
The cornerstones of major economic thought all have a cost, tradeoffs, tradeoffs are necessary, incentives matter, and voluntary trade creates value. Macroeconomics looks at the economy as a whole, including inflation, recession, unemployment, economic growth, and gross domestic product (GDP).
Government controls demand with fiscal policy ? affecting tax and spending ? and monetary policy ? involving the Federal Reserve, interest rates, and the banking system
The effects of deficits are dependent upon how they are financed.
Few economists recommend running budget surpluses to reduce the debt. Instead, most economists favor significantly reducing or eliminating the deficit. If this can be accomplished, the debt will grow less rapidly than GDP and the debt will become relatively less important.
A personal observation - I haven't read anything about any economist having a plan to encourage personal savings. Instead, the cheap price of money has saddled consumers with the highest personal debt to date, especially credit cards.
Angeline
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