Commentary
On Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, the Treasury secretary designate Janet Yellen outlined before the Senate Finance Committee the likely course of President Joe Biden’s economic policies in the months ahead. Given the fragile state of the U.S. economy as a result of Covid-19, Yellen favors Biden’s $1.9 trillion spending plan to provide support to the economy. Yellen seems to be aware that some commentators might have misgivings about such a massive spending plan given the already large budget deficit and vast public debt: the twelve-month moving average of the budget deficit stood at $144 billion in December last year, while as a percentage of GDP the federal debt stood at 131 percent in September 2020 (versus 107 percent in September 2019).
