2017 Fiscal Summit: Rising Debt in a Changing Economy

America faces the dynamic combination of an evolving economy, a crowded legislative agenda, and an unsustainable fiscal outlook. As Congress and a new administration explore major changes in key areas — healthcare, taxes, infrastructure, trade, and more — our fiscal condition remains as important as ever.

With many reforms on the table, one issue impacts all the others: our unsustainable national debt. America’s fiscal outlook is connected to all these issues because our growing debt threatens our economy and weakens our ability to address our most important budget priorities.

All of the major reform proposals will impact, and are impacted by, the national debt. Given that 70 percent of the spending growth in our major entitlement programs is for healthcare, addressing the U.S. healthcare system is essential to improving our fiscal outlook. Tax reform can have a significant and direct effect on our fiscal path — making it far better, or far worse. If there is agreement that we need to address our infrastructure, how will we find the resources to pay for it — now and in the future — if we allow debt and interest costs to grow? How will America’s workforce meet the challenges and opportunities presented by globalization if the national debt harms economic growth and America’s leadership role in the world?

The 2017 Fiscal Summit will convene leading voices and policymakers from across the political spectrum to discuss the legislative agenda, its connection to our growing national debt, and solutions to put us on a better path. The Summit will discuss the significant fiscal implications of current reform proposals, and examine the opportunities that exist to ensure policy solutions are sustainable, fiscally responsible, and supportive of economic growth.


FEATURED SPEAKERS

Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin
U.S. Department of the Treasury

Senator John S. McCain (R-AZ)
Chairman of the Committee on Armed Services

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA)
Vice Chairman, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
House Democratic Leader

Representative Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD)
House Minority Whip

Representative Kevin Brady (R-TX)
Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means
Chairman, Joint Committee on Taxation

Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA)
Chairman, Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies

Representative Jim Himes (D-CT)
Chair, New Democrat Coalition

Michael Mullen, USN (Ret.)
17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Mitch Landrieu
Mayor of New Orleans
Vice President, U.S. Conference of Mayors

Sylvia Mathews Burwell
President-Designate of American University

22nd U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services

Joshua Bolten
President and CEO, Business Roundtable

Former White House Chief of Staff to U.S. President George W. Bush

James Capretta
Resident Fellow and Milton Friedman Chair

American Enterprise Institute

Dr. Atul Gawande
Surgeon, writer, and public health researcher


VIDEO FROM THE 2017 FISCAL SUMMIT

Solutions Initiative 2024

Seven think tanks from across the ideological spectrum all agree that we are on an unsustainable fiscal path, and we need to change course.

National Debt Clock

See the latest numbers and learn more about the causes of our high and rising debt.