Reducing The Federal Deficit: A Critical Challenge
Abstract
It's always a pleasure to visit Los Angeles, and the Town Hall is certainly one of the most prestigious forums in the entire country. Your inviting me to speak here today tells me one thing; though we may work in different parts of the country--some in private industry and some in government--we are concerned about many of the same issues. If I asked you to identify the most critical challenge facing the President and the Congress today, I'm sure most--if not all--of you would say the budget deficit. And rightfully so. For the fourth year in a row, that deficit is in the vicinity of 200 billion dollars, and it affects nearly every person in the United States, to say nothing of people abroad. We have been hearing a lot about deficits and the public debt since the 1984 Presidential campaign. But the problem is not really a new one. We have had a deficit every year since 1970. Although the size has fluctuated, the trend has been for those deficits to get ever larger. As we entered the 1980s, we had a public debt of about 850 billion dollars. It had taken us about 200 years to reach that level. The debt has now risen to more than 1-1/2 trillion dollars and, if we continue on our present course, it will grow by another trillion before the end of the decade. I would like to begin today by telling you why I think we cannot afford to let that happen.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 25, 1985
- Accession Number
- AD1102204
Entities
People
- Charles Arthur Bowsher
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office