Many people are in agreement that the United States federal debt is currently on an unsustainable path. Recently, the national debt has been rising from a manageable GDP of 65 percent in 2007 to 102 percent in 2013. Based on the present currency policies, projections by the Congressional Budget Office is that the national debt will increase by 300 percent in the year 2037 (Hargreaves). This increasing trend clearly gives a demonstration that the US requires to take a decisive action urgently in order to return back the debt levels to normal and ensure the budgetary path is also sustainable. That being said, various solutions are available for the US to ensure the national debt is managed. The solutions include cut spending on foreign and internal programs, ensure accountability of federal funds spending and increasing taxes on corporations and wealthy.
The first solution to manage the national debt problem is for the United States to cut its spending on foreign and internal programs. Even though the government spending on foreign programs and aid to other countries has had a phenomenon positive impacts in terms of development and stability, the US needs to cut huge aid to foreign programs. This solution is best because it will the government an opportunity to redirect the foreign aid to critical programs for its people. Similarly, the government has been spending large amount of funds for the military (Kankam-da-costa). The US should consider taking cuts on its military spending since this has been one of the main cause of national debt. In addition, the US should also cuts its foreign military programs. The government should consider ending various military programs and wars and cut spending for the defense. However, the problem with this solution is that many countries depend significantly on the US aid and cutting the aid can cause harm on their economies. In addition, cutting expenditure on the military can result in gaps in military development and research and also threaten world peace and security. This also the main reasons why this solution has not been adopted.
The second solution to mitigate the national debt problem is to ensure accountability of federal funds spending. There has been widespread concern about the level of accountability by state officers and politicians who have been accused of wasting and abusing federal funds. Effective systems need to be implemented to ensure transparency and accountability in spending federal funds for various programs across the United States (Hargreaves). In addition, there should be efficiency in the use of federal funds. Vital government functions need to be run efficiently as well as transparently. Some government functions also need to be executed in a better way than they are currently done. This can help to ensure enough funds are available for defending the country from issues such as terrorism, protecting the environment and uplifting the lives of the poor in the society. This solution if implemented can help in curbing loss of funds through fraud, corruption and embezzlement on unnecessary programs. However, some challenges can obstruct implementation of this solutions mostly related to political interests.
The third solution for mitigating the national debt is to increase taxes on corporations and the wealthy. The deficit needs to be brought under control by taxing the wealthy and also restoring tax rates which existed during the Bill Clinton years. Also, tax increase on large multinational American corporations will help in pumping more money to the American economy. However, the solution might not be popular among the corporations since they might reconsider relocating their businesses to other countries where taxes are low (Hill). This will result in job losses. The solution has not been adopted because of the influence of the wealthy Americans as well as the corporations.
In a nutshell, it is high time that the national debt issue needs to be addressed. Even though there has been challenges to adopt various solutions brought forward, it is important for the government to ensure the debt levels are kept low so as to ensure prosperity of the US economy. Some of the solutions brought forward include cutting spending on foreign and internal programs, ensure accountability of federal funds spending and increasing taxes on corporations and wealthy. Adopting this solutions can significantly help in mitigating the rising national debt.
- Hill, Elias. Us National Debt Recovery: A Program Proposal. iUniverse, 2013. Print
- Hargreaves, Eric. The National Debt. Routledge, 2013. Print
- Kankam-da-costa, Vinep. Who Is Fit to Rule America in the Twenty-First Century and Beyond? The Twenty-First Century and Beyond American Enlightenment. Xlibris Corporation, Oct 1, 2012. Print
