2018 Fiscal Summit: Debt Matters

As campaigns for the 2018 midterm elections get underway within a rapidly changing policy environment, the ninth-annual Fiscal Summit convened voices from across the political and ideological spectrum to examine the urgent need for a fiscal reset that puts America on a sustainable course for economic growth and prosperity.

As interest rates continue to rise and we return to trillion-dollar deficits as early as next year, we will face increased budgetary pressures. Absent a change in course, we will confront reduced public and private investments, less flexibility to deal with future crises, and diminishing economic opportunities for Americans.

Now, while the economy is strong, it is time to face the challenge anew, and reset our priorities to create the conditions for sustained economic growth and prosperity into the future. The 2018 Fiscal Summit reiterated the urgent need for a fiscal reset, and examined how we can refocus the nation on building a fiscally sustainable path for America.


PARTICIPANTS

Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ)

Member, Committee on the Judiciary; Member, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

Senator David Perdue (R-GA)

Member, Committee on the Budget, Joint Select Committee on Budget & Appropriations Process Reform

Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

House Democratic Leader

Congressman Tom Reed (R-NY)

Co-chair, Problem Solvers Caucus

Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA)
Member, Problem Solvers Caucus; Vice Chair, New Democrat Coalition

Ernest J. Moniz

Co-Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Nuclear Threat Initiative; Former U.S. Secretary of Energy (2013-2017)

Heather Boushey

Executive Director and Chief Economist,
Washington Center for Equitable Growth

Terry Dinan

Senior Advisor, Congressional Budget Office

Robert Doar

Morgridge Fellow in Poverty Studies,
American Enterprise Institute

Simon Johnson

Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship,
MIT Sloan School of Management

Mark Hugo Lopez

Director of Global Migration and Demography,
Pew Research Center

Aparna Mathur

Resident Scholar in Economic Policy,
American Enterprise Institute

Adele Morris

Policy Director of Climate and Energy Economics Project,
Brookings Institution

Deanna Mulligan

President and CEO, The Guardian Life Insurance Company

Steven Rattner

Chairman and CEO, Willett Advisors LLC

David Wessel

Director, Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Brookings Institution

Kimberly Adams

Senior Reporter,
Marketplace

Greg Ip

Chief Economics Commentator,
The Wall Street Journal

Jim Tankersley

Tax and Economics Reporter, The New York Times

Erica Werner

Congressional Reporter, The Washington Post


2018 Fiscal Summit Video

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.