Government Debt and Deficit: Myth or Reality?

To help stem the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, several nations, including the United States, added to their budget deficits.

As part of Columbia Business School’s Leading Through Crisis Series, two leading experts – Paul B. Kazarian ’81, the CEO of Japonica Partners and the Kazarian Center for Public Financial Management, and Jared Bernstein, the former chief economist to Vice President Joe Biden and Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, debated the wisdom of those decisions.

Moderated by Shivaram Rajgopal, the Roy Bernard Kester and T.W. Byrnes Professor of Accounting, the discussion included Bernstein and Kazarian’s views on the role of economic cycles and infrastructure spending in the context of deficits and their opinions on Modern Monetary Theory.

[branned]

Paul B. Kazarian seems intellectual and logical with useful information. Jared Bernstein only talks emotionally and lacks believable math. Thank you for educating us on the NZ model.

[Skipbo]

How can the US Government, the issuer of the Dollar, be in debt in dollars? How can the US government be in debt to itself?

[mingji]

Agree with Prof Jared that a lot of future revenue/cost is subject to law's change, so it is not possible and will likely be inaccurate to project future obligations into Paul's model or balance sheet. Also liked Prof Jared's answers to other questions raised in Q&A session.