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Ghosts Of Debts Past, Present And Future Borrowing from the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, NPR examines the predicament of the nation's ever-growing debt and the choices to be made if Congress is to get serious about controlling it.
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Ghosts Of Debts Past, Present And Future

NPR examines the federal debt and the choices to be made in order to get it under control.
Heeding Wake-Up Call Could Mitigate Debt Crisis

President Obama walks at the White House with presidential debt commission co-chairs Erskine Bowles (left) and Alan Simpson. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption

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Alex Wong/Getty Images

Heeding Wake-Up Call Could Mitigate Debt Crisis

President Obama's fiscal commission begins its final round of meetings Tuesday, which may or may not produce a plan to cut the nation's growing debt. Experts say a debt crisis could come in 18 months or 18 years. But either way, it's a frightening prospect.

Heeding Wake-Up Call Could Mitigate Debt Crisis

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Solving Federal Debt Crisis Hinges On Compromises

The co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, Erskine Bowles (left) and Alan Simpson (right), listen to President Obama deliver a speech in the Rose Garden of the White House. The commission will release its report on how to reduce the nation's debt this week. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption

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Alex Wong/Getty Images

Solving Federal Debt Crisis Hinges On Compromises

A new plan from the heads of a White House commission, calling for significant spending cuts and new tax revenues, faces protests from both the left and the right. But its authors say lawmakers can either deal with the rising debt or have a fix thrust upon them by those lending money to the U.S.

Solving Federal Debt Crisis Hinges On Compromises

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Counting The Reasons Why Deficits Keep Growing

President Johnson (center) signs the Medicare Act in 1965 as former President Harry Truman (right) looks on. Now the cost of Medicare threatens to crush the federal budget. LBJ Library/National Archives hide caption

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LBJ Library/National Archives

Counting The Reasons Why Deficits Keep Growing

How did the world's most powerful government end up with deficits so threatening and large? The financial crisis is partly to blame for the federal red ink, but so are the promises made to American retirees.

Counting The Reasons Why Deficits Keep Growing

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Where Our Debt Came From; Where Money Could Go

This week, the president's fiscal commission meets to try and arrive at a debt-reduction plan for the nation. NPR's Scott Horsley and John Ydstie join host Liane Hansen to talk about factors that contributed to the current deficit and how it might be reduced.

Where Our Debt Came From; Where Money Could Go

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