Fed’s Powell Says Federal Debt ‘Is Not at an Unsustainable Level’

EXCERPT:

POWELL: “So, the U.S. is on — U.S. federal debt is on an unsustainable path. It’s not at an unsustainable level. And no one really knows how much further we can go. Other countries over time have gone much farther. But we’re now, you know, we’re running very large deficits at full employment. And this is a situation that we very much need to address. Sooner or later we’ll have to, and and sooner is better than later. In terms of, if I can say from my time working on these issues, it’s not the Fed’s issue, but if you look at a pie chart of federal spending, the biggest parts and the parts that are growing are Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and now interest payments. And so, that’s really where the work has to be done. And those are issues that can only be touched on a bipartisan basis. You know, neither party can figure out what to do without both parties being at the table. So that’s critical.”