"DC seems to have forgotten *why* it is that deficits are a problem." - Christopher Galtenberg

"The reason is this. All else being equal, the more the government wants to borrow the higher, the interest rate it has to offer savers. And the higher the interest rate a saver can get from the government, the higher the rate he’ll demand from any other potential borrower. And those high borrowing costs end up depressing consumer purchasing and new business activity. An entrepreneur might have an idea that’s profitable at 6 percent interest but not profitable at 11 percent interest. If you push these things into the “not profitable” zone, then you have a problem." - Christopher Galtenberg

"This is why we had substantial deficit cutting deals early in the Reagan administration, midway through the GHW Bush administration, and early in the Clinton administration. Interest rates were high and spiking, the threat of crowding out was real." - Christopher Galtenberg

"But today? Really? It might be in some sense preferable to have a long-term budget deal in place. But it’s hard to say in what concrete ways this would improve any current problems. We’re just not—not—suffering from unusually high interest rates and crowding out." - Christopher Galtenberg