By Kenneth D. Ackerman, as published in Bloomberg News.
The “fiscal cliff,” a combination of tax increases and severe spending cuts scheduled to kick in next year, is a product of multiple deceptions. Both the expiration date on the Bush-era tax cuts and the trillion-dollar “sequesters” that were enacted as part of last year’s debt- ceiling deal were designed to cover up an overarching problem: the country’s out-of-control debt.
The U.S. government today owes $16.05 trillion to bondholders and creditors, more than $51,000 for every American. This debt is already larger than the country’s annual economic output and threatens to cripple the economy for generations.
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