Empower Wisconsin | Oct. 17, 2019

There is no shortage of good economic news in America. More than 21 million jobs have been added since 2009. Wage growth is improving. Fewer people are having to take a second job to make ends meet. Unemployment rates are at or near historic lows for blacks, Hispanics, women and veterans.

But a dark cloud hovers over this sunny economy. Debt held by the public has risen to 78 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) expects it to hit 95 percent within a decade.

These high levels of federal debt are contributing to lower levels of economic growth which has been sluggish since coming out of the recession. 

Read more from the Heritage Foundation’s Paul Winfree and Victor Xiao here.