Chart of the Day
Posted at 11:15 a.m. on March 15
– David Wessel charts how Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will expand as a percentage of federal spending while all other parts of the budget — from other entitlement programs to defense and non-defense discretionary spending — will rapidly shrink under current policies.
“The U.S. confronts two big economic problems: Unemployment today, deficits tomorrow… The economy isn’t going to grow fast enough to eliminate the deficit. And because it will take years for changes to health and retirement programs to save money, there is good reason to enact those changes now.”
“That won’t hurt today’s fragile recovery. It will put tomorrow’s economy on a stronger footing… And, importantly, it will take the pressure off the annually appropriated spending that includes everything that is an investment in the future, from education to airports.”
