Kurt Couchman: When will cheap credit dry up?

Kurt Couchman is co-director of legislative strategy at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He recently wrote an opinion piece for The Hill, an excerpt of which is below. 

Low borrowing rates have made us complacent. The forces holding interest rates down, however, are eroding. Highly indebted governments, businesses, and individuals are dangerously exposed to interest rate risk.

In developed countries, many politicians and their pundit enablers say that cheap credit means we don’t need to worry about the debt. Denying reality may be politically convenient, but fact tends to catch up.

Instead of irresponsible short-termism, times of plenty should be used to prepare for lean times to come. Unfortunately, many play Aesop’s carefree grasshopper instead of the prudent ants.

Interest rates can’t stay low forever...

Read the entire piece here.

"My Views" are works published by members or staff of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, but they do not necessarily reflect the views of all members or staff of the Committee.