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Why are long-term bond yields so high? Even Jerome Powell wants to know

Nov 10, 2023
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said that we “don’t really know” why long-term bond yields have been going up.
Hasn't Powell been listening to "Marketplace?"
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Can you build a sustainable federal budget?

Mar 8, 2023
"The Fiscal Ship” game demonstrates public policy trade-offs that go into government budgeting.
The home page for "The Fiscal Ship," a game meant to help players better understand federal budget tradeoffs.
Screen capture taken March 7, 2023

Awash in red ink: U.S. posts record $3.1T 2020 budget deficit

Oct 16, 2020
The federal deficit for 2020 was three times the size of last year’s deficit. It was the government’s largest annual shortfall in dollar terms.
President Donald Trump listens as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin speaks during a daily coronavirus press briefing in March.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

What's behind the national debt?

Jun 17, 2020
We look into how the government borrows money and what it means in the long run.
Then-Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen testifies before the House Financial Services Committee in 2016. The national debt has since passed $26 trillion.
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Why the Treasury's offering a new 20-year bond

Jan 30, 2020
The Treasury Department last offered a 20-year bond in the 1980s. This spring, it's betting that certain types of investors will want to include them in their portfolios.
A view of the U.S. Treasury building in Washington, D.C.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The GOP lost the budget fight ... again

John Harwood of CNBC explains why Republicans "support spending cuts in theory" but have a hard time getting there in practice.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, above, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., negotiated a budget deal this week that increases federal spending.
Juan Mabromata/Getty Images

Despite a strong economy, the federal deficit continues to grow

Jun 13, 2019
This is despite a revenue boost from President Trump’s tariffs on imports.
An October 18, 2018 photo shows the seal of the US Treasury in Washington, DC.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

President George H.W. Bush dies at 94

Nov 30, 2018
He came to office promising not to raise taxes, but later compromised to help cut the deficit.
U.S. President George Bush poses for photographers after his address to the nation, 27 September 1991, in the Oval Office of the White House. During his speech, Bush announced that the U.S. will unilaterally eliminate its land and sea-based short-range nuclear weapons.
LUKE FRAZZA/AFP/Getty Images

President George H.W. Bush dies at 94

Nov 30, 2018
He came to office promising not to raise taxes, but later compromised to help cut the deficit.
U.S. President George Bush poses for photographers after his address to the nation, 27 September 1991, in the Oval Office of the White House. During his speech, Bush announced that the U.S. will unilaterally eliminate its land and sea-based short-range nuclear weapons.
LUKE FRAZZA/AFP/Getty Images

President George H.W. Bush dies at 94

Nov 30, 2018
He came to office promising not to raise taxes, but later compromised to help cut the deficit.
U.S. President George Bush poses for photographers after his address to the nation, 27 September 1991, in the Oval Office of the White House. During his speech, Bush announced that the U.S. will unilaterally eliminate its land and sea-based short-range nuclear weapons.
LUKE FRAZZA/AFP/Getty Images