Policymakers Should Commit To No New Borrowing In 2022

Lawmakers are contemplating a year-end package that could include increased appropriations along with a variety of tax breaks and spending increases with no plans to offset any of the costs. With inflation at a 40-year high, interest rates rising, and debt approaching a record share of the economy, this would be the exact wrong thing to do. New borrowing will push up debt and inflation and harm long-term growth.

The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:

We are asking lawmakers to take one small step towards fiscal responsibility and agree there should be no new borrowing for the remainder of 2022.

There is not one single economic justification to borrow rather than pay for any new priorities.  This is only 46 days, and it will be good practice for politicians to break their addiction to debt. Those who are being negatively affected by high levels of inflation – as in, all of us – should ask any policymaker who votes for new borrowing why they are choosing to make inflationary conditions worse rather than better.

The last thing this country needs is a Christmas Tree package full of unpaid-for tax breaks and spending hikes. Any policymaker who votes for new borrowing instead of paid-for legislation under these economic conditions is not taking the hardships they are creating on working families seriously enough.

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For more information, please contact Kim McIntyre, Director of Media Relations, at mcintyre@crfb.org.