CBO Director on growing U.S. debt: Even modestly low interest rates won't change fiscal trajectory

CBO Director Phillip Swagel joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the nation's budget and economic outlook, impact of the Fed's interest rate policy, challenges to bringing down debt, and more. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: cnb.cx/42d859g
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[@finleysterling562]

I wonder what the best opportunities to invest now are, there are opinions but a little later I find out these opinions don't matter as a totally different turn of events play out with the stocks they discussed therein...

[@leedavis3639]

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[@darrenphilip247]

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[@HarryStiles-k1k]

I'm interested in investing, but I'm not sure where to start. Do you have any advice or contacts who can help me out?

[@RamseyWilliamson]

Investing can be complex, so it's smart to get professional guidance when building your financial portfolio.

[@JasonFrancis-t4v]

It's a great idea to have a conversation with financial advisors like Naomi Dean to reshape your portfolio.

[@ElizabethFranklin-n8r]

I spread out my $25k portfolio across various markets to diversify my investments.

[@BrandonPalmer-h1g]

That's awesome! I ended up making a net profit of about $115k by investing in high dividend yield stocks, ETFs, and equity.

[@FodenRanson]

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[@DaniEles-rc7ij]

How is it not a crisis? its more money than the Military.. and we have the most expensive Military in the history of the world. ---- 900 Billion in interest payments. -----

[@ywtcc]

It's a financial empire, debt is what fuels it. That's why Senate Republicans cut taxes on everything but employment to create deficits at every opportunity. You're not getting your head around this problem until you realize that a lot of influential people are for it. Debt does a great job of disciplining your workforce, in addition to providing fuel for a financial empire.

[@DaniEles-rc7ij]

@@ywtcc But the gig is up... China doesnt need to buy debt from the USA. in fact they have stopped buying... this is a crisis that erodes American consumers buying power. and its only starting to sting now.

[@ywtcc]

@@DaniEles-rc7ij Apparently not. Republicans are still running against debt and for tax cuts. (Not paying their taxes.) As far as government debt, it's Japan that's the biggest purchaser. As far as private investors, it appears to still be Europe that experiences the largest financial flows. It's the split with Europe that's the problem, China is mostly a distraction. It's not actually a good thing when others don't want to buy your debt!

[@DaniEles-rc7ij]

@@ywtcc we agree.. if the debt is un-sellable.. we have to pay it back.

[@ywtcc]

@@DaniEles-rc7ij American employees have to pay it back. Republicans cut everyone else out of that responsibility. Pay your taxes or you don't have anything to say about how the government runs.

[@DaleH2o]

Like Charlie Munger said. “If you jump out the window at the 42nd floor and you’re still doing fine as you pass the 27th floor, that doesn’t mean you don’t have a serious problem”. We could cut Military spending in half and not even notice. We spend more than the next 10 largest countries combined.

[@danielhutchinson6604]

The Pentagon Audits reveal some issues that do require investigation by impartial Judges. The concept of corruption diverting designated Funds to perhaps Cayman Island banks, might indicate one reason the US threats have lost the effect that any respectable Colonial Empire needs.

[@damonkatos4271]

Exactly but the military industrial complex will never be cut unfortunately

[@gezenews]

"Not notice" except the entire globe would notice. First off about a hundred US companies would careen towards failure and then about 50 countries that we have multiple large bases with thousands of soldiers and huge spending budgets would also depress in a way that would feel like half their tourism disappearing. Then you'd have about a million unemployed young men with guns come home and have nothing to do, because their peers in the white collar industries have already been pushed toward blue collar work, and the depressed wages would compound on each other.

[@gezenews]

@@marklampo8164 I'm talking about companies like Raytheon not ShoNiq's hair salon or Tony's pizza truck. I'm not saying we shouldn't do it. I'm just saying the economy is already held up with duct tape and the minute you start suggesting common sense is the minute it collapses. Which should tell you how much pushback you're going to get and how it's never going to happen. It's only going to change when it fails. And its on its way.

[@radar0412]

​@@damonkatos4271If Congress cut military spending you'd vote them out unfortunately.

[@rippingbag]

For scale, the GDP of South America is $4.04 trillion.

[@danielhutchinson6604]

How much Gold does South Africa produce? The measure of an economy is not how much money, but what type of resources do they own? South Africa has Diamonds as well......

[@rippingbag]

​@@danielhutchinson6604 GDP is the total value of all final goods and services produced within a country's borders during a specific period of time. 4.04 trillion is for South America yearly.

[@danielhutchinson6604]

@@rippingbag Like I say Currency Valuations vary from time to time. If you use a specific currency to measure, the numbers can Vary. Wiemar Germany had some issues with that problem. The US support system that is supposed to insure value to the Federal Reserve Note, looks like it has not fulfilled the promised support for 20 years.

[@rippingbag]

@@danielhutchinson6604 And my original point was that US federal government borrowing 2 trillion a year should be viewed in relation to the total GDP of the South American economy, as a collective block. Or Africa with a GDP of 3.1 trillion. Or Australia with a GDP of 1.7 trillion. I’m not really sure what your argument is but assuming the US or anyone can continue to take on debt on that scale is foolish.

[@danielhutchinson6604]

@@rippingbag You do need to understand that the Fiat Currency introduced in 1970, now faces a competing Currency from BRICS Trade Group. When there was no organized Currency with physical dimensions, to oppose the US Currency it did function well. We had assumed Fiat Currency might last 10 years but they exceeded expectations. I was noticing that after a Colonial Conflict cut into the US Treasury in 1967, the idea of some change was coming. Here we are once again with an unpopular War and massive Debt that is supposed to pay for it, the similar transfer of responsibility for paying the Bill, goes to the following Administration? The Wiemar German Administration encountered similar issues.

[@themakerofmagic]

The gentleman raised his eyebrows when he said the fed is independent and raised it again when he said we can trust the fed

[@JOsh-ur7xx]

He doesn’t blink really either

[@Net-icine]

And nothing we say is going to save us from the fallout

[@jeffreywood5207]

Kennedy 2024!!!! Only one talking about national debt!!!

[@jacqdanieles]

What are his solutions?

[@headspaceandtiming2114]

@@jacqdanielesnone. He is just another liberal that wants to expand welfare and run up debt. Don’t be fools by him.

[@Oldplace-xc7pb]

I actually think rfk would be a great president. But he doesn't have a snowball's chance...

[@jeffreywood5207]

@@Oldplace-xc7pb As good as Harris!!!

[@Fried52]

Actually the economy is one of the very few areas Kennedy shines. In fact he sounds like a combination of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and believes in re-distributing wealth to the middle from upper class. Now if we could just get him stop finding a conspiracy in science and everything else and then get the worm out of his brain. Tough to vote for someone who's family is telling you they won't.

[@theruraloregonian1802]

If you get a check from the government, if you worked for it or not, you are the inflation we all hate.

[@godzillamothra5983]

The US should sell some states to pay back the debts

[@raymak8407]

Spending must be cut.

[@mal7175]

Biden: Look folks, we finally beat economics

[@michaelc1063]

BECKY IS A GORGEOUS WOMAN 😍🔥❤️

[@azfarazuno3870]

She is a home wrecker too!

[@michaelc1063]

@@azfarazuno3870 How!? Lol

[@azfarazuno3870]

@@michaelc1063 she took her husband away from his wife and kids, thats how!

[@azfarazuno3870]

@@michaelc1063 matt quayle, creator and producers of squack on the street

[@andyw6996]

Buffett called her his "little play thing". He was hittin' it left and right!

[@skyak4493]

The government needs to stop handing out money to buy votes. If the government hadn’t handed out $2T, there wouldn’t be a big inflation problem and the FOMC would have no problem cutting rates. The federal government needs to close all the loopholes billionaires use to pay no taxes. That might not balance the budget, but it would go a long way and it would give the government the moral authority to tax for what it spends.

[@danielhutchinson6604]

Spending over $50 billion on Military threats to other nations, may be an area to discuss? The USA now appears to have lost all support for the Currency. The ability to sell Treasury Notes to support the Currency has grown into a major issue. As the Saudi Investors apply their profits in other regions, after the Oil Agreement expired, creates one very large quantity of missing support for the Currency. As the Dollar has faced challenges from the Nation who were appearing to deliver money to support the Fiat Currency, since 2014, the associated issues that were common on and before that time have only grown. The Colonies appear to have defected? The Government issued figures do seem to ignore the facts and the distortions of the Economic figures seem to cause visible effects on the faces of Treasury and FED leaders. Janet Yellen and Powell both seem to be having difficulty maintaining the Political line of illusion. The Fiat Currency created after the Johnson Administration faced a Currency Crisis in 1967, now has lost all visible support. The Currency Crisis that has come around to indicate the loss of Colonial support the USA once had, now threatens to become as potent as the economic crisis the French and British imposed on Germany after the 1919 Treaty that was arrived at in Versailles. Could Wiemar Deutschmarks offer more value than the Federal reserve Note?

[@Ek0]

They need a wealth tax and huge corporate tax. There is literally no other way out of this.

[@danielhutchinson6604]

@@Ek0 The Electoral Industry has Investors who can donate Millions of Dollars without feeling any particular economic pressure. The same Investors who discover profits from promoting Politicians, invest in Media. In light of that paragraph, how do you propose the Citizens of the United States, will find incentives to install representative government in sufficient quantity, to promote actual Tax Increase Bills that ever emerge from a House Committee?

[@mikefortunato9800]

Exactly

[@mikefortunato9800]

@@Ek0 No better way to finish us off for good. Jobs and companies will leave. Stop the spending. Cut the fat

[@All-gp3tt]

Uncontrollable spending by either party, soon or later dollars will collapse

[@casienwhey]

Nothing will happen because the voters don't want to deal with it, so the politicians won't act. People want big government without the taxes.

[@MegaPapa8888]

No guest wants to be a bad news bear. Good life goes on.

[@mysticwatersoo]

Dont ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for Ukraine- quote by modern day democrats.

[@cat143143]

And Israel

[@ywtcc]

Lowering rates means there's more borrowing and more debt! LOL! I think if the Congressional Budget Office took a look at the revenue side of the situation a different picture would emerge. (Republicans cut taxes on almost everything that wasn't employment, then refused to address the deficit situation. Turns out some influential policy makers really like debt!) You can't talk honestly about deficits and debts until you start talking about taxes. It's not the 70s anymore, this routine has gotten extremely old.

[@lawrencesullivan3307]

Eliminate enormous tax cuts for the rich!

[@huynguyentoantin]

and giving out money to other countries and cancel student loans

[@chuyenpham3336]

Thankkaaa

[@paulreynolds2569]

2:32-2:36: "I feel like I've been listening to the same story for more than twenty years" - as most of us..... Apparently, only DC has deliberately self-induced amnesia😵‍💫

[@paulreynolds2569]

3:29 - 3:36. Well-put, Becky!

[@dust921]

RFK jr gets my vote 100%.,.,

[@stuartwood5571]

Do the right thing? Newsflash: The fed doesn’t set rates based on the amount of the federal deficit.

[@jeffreywang8506]

Spending like there’s no tomorrow 😂😂

[@tsengenhu6494]

Congress is exceptional at kicking the can down the road….😢

[@user-su7dn9kn3s]

why is erin even asking about MMT? We have already seen it is not a free lunch. Inflation, inflation, inflation.

[@oneyeman4923]

"technology cures disruptions better ways to do it, but we keep much if the technology that could crash the price of healthcare here, we keep it illegal, because there are lobbyists in our hallways who don't want to compete against your ability you use technology to keep yourself and your family healthier" 1.26T and 1.13T is going into Health / Social Security....

[@AKAAAK]

Just keep on spending......it's become tradition for America and it's citizens to live on full blown debt.

[@svnblm]

😁Swagel said in the politest way possible "MMT is hogwash !"

[@user-gg8we2ot4b]

I agree 100%.

[@tyler0506]

No one in gov gives a rats behind and it’s sad. Broke boysss

[@robdogsurf]

What happens when debt gets too high?? Inflation spiral? Anyone know if debt hit 10 trillion or 20 trillion what the impact is?

[@lggr2261]

Us has 35 trillion dollar debt

[@danielhutchinson6604]

Becky, do you Folks still Broadcast from the House of Rockefeller? Folks were scared when Japan bought up the neighborhood, now USS is hovering over some issue of Japan ownership? I love You, but the stability of the Nation seems almost as shaky, as that building that Nelson Built in 1969. I worry about You....

[@MMT_Rod]

It’s shocking how uneducated the head of CBO is about both money and accounting. Modern Monetary Theory is not a philosophy, it is simply applying accounting to the creation of money. Inflation is always caused by supply shortages of real goods and the recent price increases we experienced were no different. I’m tired of hearing from these chicken littles pretending to be grownups. We need to permanently close CBO.

[@cat143143]

Transitory

[@_d--]

Hear me out... Maybe people should work and get paid for their work and then spend the money they made working to buy stuff.....maybe handing out free money isn't a good idea😅

[@brianb6957]

More debt, please. It's fun using a debt based fiat currency.

[@NineInchTyrone]

Good thing I am 73 ! Not my problem. 😂

[@Fried52]

I'm 72 retired and set for life. I would be inclined to agree, but then I think of the grand kids and the damage a Trump redo could cause to their lives and happiness.

[@rickhayes-oh2zm]

cut social security

[@user-lk7li9yv2e]

Add bringing the debt to critical mass to Biden’s accomplishments. Thanks Joe. FJB.

[@hobarttobor686]

The Fed is independent...that's funny

[@tritruong6111]

Fed hand is forced to lower rate. 900 billions im interest payment 🤣

[@TillWonMillion]

Doom 😵😵😵😵😵😵😵😵😵

[@theguildedcage]

Dollar backed by bitcoin is the only option.

[@Tacamojoe2]

Bitcoin is the answer. God bless America and RFK jr🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@Tripplesmoke]

Dude looks like a psychopath..

[@dool1002]

I think after looking at those astronomical interests that the US government needs to pay, I'd look like that as well (being a Budget officer and constantly telling policy makers you can not spend more than whats available). The numbers never lie...

[@georgeboatwright3105]

Typical bureaucrat yada yada yada flip flop

[@stuartwood5571]

MMT is a joke.

[@WarriorChampion47]

China waiting 😂 better fix your domestic issue help yourselves and not others first

[@kokalti]

It’s ok, Ukraine is way more “important”

[@larrykazdan9987]

Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, "We can always print money..." kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2fZmmhobcymm6M "The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So there is zero probability of default."