Secretary Geithner on Our Fiscal Challenges

Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner gave a speech about the unsustainability of our country's current fiscal path. Speaking at the Harvard Club in New York City, Secretary Geithner talked about the severity of our fiscal problems, the consequences of delaying action, and what will ultimately have to be done to restore fiscal responsibility. He also laid out the important points of the President's deficit-reduction framework, including his proposed debt-reduction enforcement mechanism (see here and here for more ideas on debt failsafes and triggers).

Further underscoring the depth and seriousness of our fiscal problems, Secretary Geithner said:

"Our fiscal problems are so pressing that they threaten to undermine the foundations of our future economic strength, our ability to protect our national security interests, and our capacity to sustain the commitments made by 13 presidents over 75 years to provide economic security to the poor and the elderly. We now borrow 40 cents for every dollar we spend, and under current policies, our total federal debt burden will be almost as large as the entire American economy within the next decade. We do not have the option of leaving this problem to another day, another Congress, another President."

Click here to read the full text of Secretary Geithner's speech.