A US Federal Budget Chartbook

For some people, their pulse beats faster when their favorite sports team wins, or their favorite musician drops a new album. For others, pulse and respiration accelerate when confronted with “Spending, Taxes, and Deficits: A Book of Charts.” If you (like me) are in this second category, Jessica Riedl has got your back (Brookings Institution, April 2026). This is a book with a lot of pictures and not too many words. Here’s the basic picture. Federal debt as a share of GDP is near the highest level in US history, which happened after the US financed the fighting of World War II with borrowed money. National debt is now about $235,000 per US household. The pattern of the last two decades shows that we fought the Great Recession of 2008-09 and the pandemic recession of 2020 with borrowed money, too. Assuming no future giant recessions, wars, or pandemics, past tax cuts expiring when they are scheduled by law to do so, and interest rates not rising further, this is the path we’re on.…

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