The National Debt

The National Debt
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Why policymakers should make balancing the government's budget a high priority.
Yes. Policymakers should make balancing the government budget a high priority for several reasons. First, national debt attracts interest, and it must be paid. The government has borrowed money on interest to spend on the current fiscal year. The funds to bankroll current government expenditures are collected by floating treasury bills and other similar processes where investors aiming to make and interest purchase them. Therefore, these debts attract interest, and if left unchecked, they may erode the country's economic development. Thomas Jefferson famously said, "The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale" (Jefferson, 1816). The burden of any loan/debt acquired today is borne by future generations (O’Connor & Warrell, 2013). Today, Americans are still paying for loans taken by the Bush administration to fight in Afghanistan, while some may not have been born when the country declared war on terrorism after 9/11. At the moment, the Biden administration is seeking to pass a recovery bill that would see the national debt balloon to unprecedented levels. Future generations will have to pay for that loan, together with interest. Therefore, policymakers have to balance the government budget and reduce spending to avoid increasing the national debt to unsustainable levels.
How reducing the federal government debt could benefit future generations
One way the national debt can benefit future generations is by helping build and or repair the economy (Voth, 2015). If the economy is not stimulated/repaired, future generations may inherit an unstable and weak economy. If the loans are invested in economically viable and important projects, they can lay the foundations for a strong and resilient economy. If the loans are used to build infrastructure and funding other economically important projects, future generations will benefit from the same. For example, the construction of some of the iconic and great bridges in the country was funded by the federal government, possibly through loans, and they will continue to serve current and future generations...