Deficits, Debt, and American Politics

Chronicles the history of the US national debt in the postwar period, placed in the context of broader changes in the political economy and partisan politics. Demonstrates that the national debt is in part a product of reduced revenues and the growing costs of the largest entitlement programs, but it also reflects a long series of shocks, including two wars, the financial crisis and Great Recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Situates the growth of the debt in a larger historical and political economic context, focusing on the postwar decades, prefacing this examination with chapters that provide readers with a clear understanding of public finance, taxation, mandatory spending, and the budgetary process from a policy perspective. Assumes little prior knowledge on the part of the reader, making it an ideal book for courses on public policy and political economy taught at both the upper-level undergraduate and graduate level, as well as for courses engaging the deficit and debt.