“Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.” 2 Corinthians 12:14 (NIV)
Earlier this month, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office issued its estimate for the fiscal year 2024 budget deficit; it is projected to be 1.8 trillion dollars.1 This budget deficit is unlike any other in the history of the nation.2 When the government engages in deficit spending, it needs to borrow the money to make up the difference. The US federal government is borrowing this enormous sum of money at a time when the economy is doing well, with low unemployment rates and stock market values near historic highs, and is not in a pandemic or substantial military conflict.
This budget deficit, and the accompanying borrowing, have brought our current national debt to around 35 trillion dollars. Incredibly, around half of the total debt has been accumulated in the last ten years. We will have to pay over a trillion dollars in interest this year just to service this debt. These interest payments represent one of the largest categories of government spending each year; these expenses are greater than any programs except for Social Security and Medicare.3 How should Christians understand these stunning statistics, and is there anything we can or should do?
First, let’s start with some basic facts about government finance. For each fiscal year (which runs from October 1 to September 30), the federal government both collects revenue and engages in various forms of expenditure. The projected budget deficit for 2024 reflects the fact that the government will spend 1.8 trillion dollars more than it takes in. The US federal government’s tendency to spend more than it takes in is not a temporary problem; it has been running a budget deficit for the last 23 years in a row, and 50 of the last 54.4
Why is this problem now so dangerous? Traditionally, good economic times are those when the government might be collecting more revenue than it would spend. When the economy is growing consistently, tax revenues automatically increase as families have higher incomes and businesses have higher profits. At the same time, spending on some programs like unemployment compensation and welfare may go down. In contrast, if the economy goes into a recession, tax revenues decrease, and spending on all sorts of income support programs increases automatically, and budget deficits become even worse. Overall, the prospects for the future do not look bright. Our government’s current projections for future deficit spending suggest that 24 trillion dollars of new debt will be added in the next ten years, even if the economy grows steadily.5
Stewardship, Justice, and the Future
When Christians consider matters of economics and politics, the ideas of stewardship and justice are central to our thinking. They are not just static concepts that refer only to our current situation but are ongoing mandates that demand care for future generations. Good stewardship involves long-term care and supervision of resources that have been entrusted to us; that has been the task of humankind since the beginning of creation, and we are accountable for our actions. A crucial part of justice requires improving the prospects of the poor both now and in the future; this is a fundamental way that we can evaluate how well our economic policies are doing. In the Old Testament, laws like debt relief and the Year of Jubilee were designed to ensure that this would happen. One does not need to scour the Bible to find passages about our obligations to future generations—it is a central part of our responsibilities as the people of God.
It is possible to make a case that our ongoing deficit spending and borrowing represents a substantial theft from future generations. Very few parents would pursue a strategy of increasing their spending now while leaving the bills for their own children to pay. Collectively, however, we rarely think twice about doing such a thing. Living beyond our means is very poor stewardship, and greed is at the heart of some of our decisions. We must face the fact that we want things, and we want those from the future to pay for them.
Even our efforts to provide justice today can sow the seeds of future injustice. Current discussions of economic and political justice today often involve calls for greater government spending but spending that is not paid for through enhanced revenue collection. Providing justice today should not lead to competition between generations. When we discuss justice, we must remember justice for those of future generations; we cannot pursue our “justice” today and hand the bill to our children and grandchildren.
Possible Solutions?
Are there any possible solutions to our overspending? First, we need to realize that fiscal irresponsibility has not always been the norm in the United States. As recently as 25 years ago (1998-2001), the government ran a budget surplus. These were good economic times, and the government collected more revenue than it spent. The presidential election of 1992 was centered in many ways on the future fiscal condition of the country—remember Ross Perot? In the second half of the twentieth century, there were several attempts in Washington to pass a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution, which would have mandated significantly greater fiscal responsibility. In 1995, such an amendment passed the US House of Representatives 300-132, but narrowly failed to obtain the necessary two-thirds majority in the US Senate by a vote of 65-35.
Second, economic growth by itself will not solve this problem. Economic growth is much better than the alternative of stagnation, and we should always be trying to grow what is good. However, our fiscal problems have worsened in the USA over the past several decades despite relatively consistent economic growth.
Third, taxing the rich alone is not likely to solve the problem. Although we hear a lot about the rich paying their “fair share,” the fact is that the rich already pay a substantial portion of federal income taxes.6 Although I generally don’t like taxes, I am not against raising taxes on the rich. However, we must realize that most of us who read this post are actually “rich,” and that we will need to pay more too.
Given these realities, I believe that the most important action is for our federal government to be much more careful with its spending. If our spending continues to increase at its current rate, even substantial tax increases will not likely close the deficit. Controlling government spending has proved quite difficult for our country to do. As individuals and families, we learn to control our spending, or we suffer from the consequences and learn the hard way. Governments and politicians rarely suffer consequences from overspending, and the incentives that do exist often lead them to spend more.
What should Christians do about deficits?
So what are Christians to do? This is a political season, and I wish I could point to a candidate who could help ameliorate this growing fiscal disaster. Alas, I don’t see any. Perhaps it will fall to the next generation, who will suffer from the deepening consequences, to grow their own candidates for change. Or, perhaps they will, like us, be content to kick the can down the road as much as they are able.
Traditionally, in the USA, Democrats have advocated for higher government spending and higher tax rates, while Republicans have been proponents of lower tax rates and lower levels of spending. This no longer seems to be the case. Both parties seem relatively content with increasing levels of spending without financing them through taxes. Occasionally, there is some talk about the deficit and the debt, but very little action.
It is hard to be hopeful in circumstances like these; in fact, as I write, I feel some despair about this situation. Solutions are hard to find, and it is easy to feel powerless. Christians have not had an effective witness on the issue of generational justice in the economic realm. We have done a better job saving for our own children and grandchildren, providing for investments in their education, and showing concern about their faith and overall well-being. However, we cannot just care about our own kids. One of the strengths of the environmental stewardship movement has been its emphasis on the well-being of future generations with regard to the state of the creation. We need to have the same kind of concern about putting our fiscal house in order.
There is an election coming up. We can ask questions of our politicians at every level, even when it doesn’t seem like they are listening. Christians can bring up the idea of generational justice in any forum that we can, and we who are academics can highlight the issues involved. We can stop desiring and voting for a “free lunch” where we receive benefits at the cost of our children’s future.
Part of the solution may be involving younger people in these discussions. This process has the potential to help us “older” people to hear the voices of those who will be affected by our spending. An intergenerational approach to stewardship may help bridge the gap that often exists between generations. I believe that some of the lack of hope we see in younger people results from their perceptions concerning the economic future.
The second great commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves. We often think of our neighbors in the local community, and our neighbor love sometimes extends to fellow citizens and even those across the globe. But we also have neighbors from future generations—these people rarely cross our minds. Let us commit to weighing their interests right alongside those of our communities today.
Footnotes
- This report can be found at www.cbo.gov/publication/60730.
- Last year’s budget deficit admittedly was also quite large but still had some remnants of the Covid situation reflected in its spending.
- See https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/12/interest-payments-on-the-national-debt-top-1-trillion-as-deficit-swells.html.
- See https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYFSD.
- See www.cbo.gov/publication/60419, Table 1-3.
- The top 25 percent of earners in the US in 2021 paid 89.2 percent of federal income taxes while earning 72.1 percent of overall income. For more information, see https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/latest-federal-income-tax-data-2024/#:~:text=Taxpayers%20reported%20more%20than%20%2414.7,28%20percent%20increase%20above%202020.
