The US federal budget proposal for next year in reflects on the fight against climate change, economic growth, but also the aging of the US population. Spending is about half that of 2019, but the US should run a lower deficit than last year.
Joe Biden introduced the 2022 federal budget proposal with a deficit of $1.84 trillion. The deficit, while lower than last year, will be nearly a trillion higher than in the pre-pandemic year of 2019. Revenue is projected at 4.17 trillion and spending at $6.01 trillion.
Increased expenditure is intended primarily to go to infrastructure, education and investment in projects designed to help combat climate change. According to the White House, it is necessary to invest now that interest rates are low and the government can borrow cheap. Deficits should start to shrink later.
Biden’s administration is counting on economic growth of 5.2 percent for this year. But for years to come, the momentum of the US economy is set to be reduced to growth of between 1.8 and 2 percent per year over the period 2024 to 2031. According to experts, the influence of an ageing population will begin to show. Biden’s budget is thinking of this precisely in the form of investments in education that should lead to labor productivity gains.
