The Ripon Society

In the latest Ripon Forum: debt held by the public was 40% of GDP in 2008. It's 100% today. Headed for 137% by 2036. The Brookings Institution fellow Jessica Riedl on how we got here — and the only way out:

Americans have often run up debt during wars and emergencies, knowing the burden could be reduced once the crisis passed. The American Revolution, Civil War, and World War I each pushed the federal debt to roughly 30 percent of GDP. Yet the end of those wars returned the nation to normalcy and brought sharp reductions in the debt’s share of the economy — the country even retired it entirely, if briefly, in the 1830s. After World War II pushed the debt to a staggering 106 percent of the economy, small annual deficits and rapid economic growth brought that share down to 23 percent by the mid-1970s. Washington even ran budget surpluses between 1998 and 2001.

That era has ended. Since 2008, the federal debt has leaped from 40 to 100 percent of the economy — nearly matching the World War II peak. Aggressive federal responses to the Great Recession and, especially, the Covid pandemic drove much of this debt. Yet Americans also simply stopped caring about deficits, demanding endless tax cuts and spending expansions that have handed the U.S. the largest budget deficits among the 38 OECD nations. Today, annual deficits of nearly $2 trillion—in an era of relative peace and prosperity — elicit yawns from most policymakers and voters.

READ MORE: https://riponsociety.org/article/americas-national-debt-andthe-future-of-the-american-experiment/

New York Times bestselling author andPulitzer Finalist Arthur Herman imagines a journal entry from 2076 — Ukraine bailing out Russia, Taiwan bailing out China, and Mars becoming the 51st state. A speculative look at the next 50 years for America in the latest Ripon Forum:

Excerpt from my daily journal — July 4, 2076:

I was getting ready to celebrate the 300th anniversary of America’s founding, and my own 125th birthday coming up in a few months, when an old friend dropped by. He set on my desk a dog-eared copy of my book Founder’s Fire: From 1776 to the Age of Trump, which he said he found in an antiquarian book shop nearby.

“Impressive work,” he remarked as he sat down in my ergonomic couch that also gives a readout of all vital systems as well as an instant EKG. “Did you ever think everything you wrote about for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, would come true by the 300th?”

I glanced at the book’s inside cover. There the name of its previous owner was scrawled in blue ink: “Elon Musk.” I was gratified to know he had had a chance to read Founder’s Fire, since he figures prominently in its later chapters.

I considered my friend’s question.

“Well, there were some difficulties at the time the book came out,” I said. He was looking over my quantum computer laptop as I spoke, but I could see he was paying attention.

“There was the whole issue of what to do about Iran’s nuclear program — that all seems so distant now—and whether the war in the Persian Gulf was distracting from the real threat to the United States and the West at the time, namely China.”

He nodded. “I remember. And everyone was agitated over the on-going war between Ukraine and Russia. I don’t suppose anyone foresaw the day when Ukraine’s high-tech economy would have to bail out a bankrupt Russia, and change the whole complexion of eastern Europe. Not even you.”

“No, I missed that completely,” I had to admit, “I also never imagined that Taiwan would have to bail out a bankrupt mainland China, and that Taiwan Semiconductor would end up making its headquarters in Beijing’s Forbidden Palace as a century of Communist rule suddenly came to an end.”

READ MORE: https://riponsociety.org/article/dispatch-from-the-tricentennial/

From the America250 Special Edition of The Ripon Forum — Texas America250 Commission member Lynn Forney Young shares how Texans are honoring the semiquincentennial, from traveling exhibits and oral history programs to the Texas State Fair this fall:

While Texans are proud of their unique Texian heritage, they are equally proud of their families’ contributions to the broader American story. The Texas Society Sons of the American Revolution identified new ancestors who supported the Revolutionary cause. The Texas Society Daughters of the American Revolution published a bilingual book, Before the Lone Star, which is being donated to elementary schools across the state. Even the small community on Texas’ Tiki Island discovered ancestors who had a role in America’s early days. Whether at the county level (like in Kerr and Bexar Counties, the latter the home of five original Spanish missions that predate the American Revolution) or at cultural centers across Texas (such as The National Museum of the Pacific War, Frontier Texas, and the Houston Heritage Society), special exhibits, seminars, public readings of the Declaration, and family-friendly programs promote experiences for all ages. Houston hosted the National Archives and Records Administration traveling exhibit with rare founding era documents.

The commemorations and celebrations will continue at the Texas State Fair in September and October, where the Texas Society Daughters of the American Revolution, the Our American Story traveling airstream oral history recording booth, and the Freedom Truck traveling exhibit will be on hand. While not one of the original 13 American colonies, Texans firmly believe that including the western history of the country is fundamental to understanding the breadth and reach of its founding and remain invested in learning more about and sharing its incredible history with the world.

READ MORE: https://riponsociety.org/article/how-texans-are-celebrating-america250/