The National Debt

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Harris vs. Trump: Here’s Who’s Better for the National Debt, According to Experts

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Both presidential candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, have shed some light on their future economic plans and the rising cost of living, but neither has provided clear insight on how they might handle the growing federal deficit.

The U.S. Treasury Department reports that the national debt currently stands at $35 trillion, ballooning over the past 20 years due to increased government spending. We asked experts to weigh in on whether Harris or Trump might be better for the national debt. Here’s what they had to say, and you can also check out who Americans think would better handle inflation.

Which Candidate Is Better for the National Debt?

“Neither candidate offers a halt to the rise in national debt,” said Milton Ezrati, chief economist at Vested. “The debt figures skyrocketed when Trump was president and Harris was vice president. To be sure, Trump had the excuse of the COVID pandemic, but the debt figures were rising even before that.”

Ezrati added, “Harris has less of that excuse because the pandemic was all but over when the Biden administration engaged in its COVID-spending splurge. And since then debt figures have continued to grow.”

How Would the Candidates Enlarge the National Debt?

Ezrati believes both candidates could enlarge the federal debt.

“The candidates would enlarge the debt burden in different ways. Trump would lean toward tax cuts and Harris toward more spending, but I fear the debt load would increase under either, with little way to distinguish degrees at this point,” he explained.

Has the National Debt Been Addressed in the Campaigns?

Both candidates have stayed relatively quiet about how they might address the growing deficit.

“Neither candidate in this campaign has shown much concern for the debt of deficits,” Ezrati said. “On the contrary, both have engaged in what can only be described as ‘vote buying’ — Trump’s offer to free tips from taxes, for instance, and then Harris’s offer to do the same. Nor has either candidate mentioned fiscal discipline much at all. Nor did the conventions. The Democratic convention hardly even mentioned the economy.”

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How Have the Candidates Historically Handled the National Debt?

To determine how the candidates might handle the national debt crisis, we can look to Trump’s time as president and Harris’s time in the Biden administration.

“There has been very little done over the past eight years to rein in federal outlays. Trillions in new spending eventually helped trigger higher inflation and interest rates, thereby substantially increasing the cost of financing the ever-growing debt,” said Demian Brady, vice president of research for the National Taxpayers Union Foundation.

The National Debt From 2016 to 2020

“In 2016, the publicly-held federal debt stood at $14.2 trillion, 77% of GDP,” Brady explained. “In January 2017, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected the debt would rise to $17.7 trillion through 2021 and $20.9 trillion in 2024 (83.8% of GDP). In actuality, publicly held debt in 2024 was $28.5 trillion, 99% of GDP.”

He continued, “During the Trump years, the budget was still constrained by Budget Control Act of 2011 spending caps. From 2017 through 2020, Congress passed a series of budget deals allowing for $488 billion in spending above the caps. In addition, CBO estimated the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 would add $1.9 trillion to the deficit ($1.4 trillion including macroeconomic feedback).”

The Pandemic and Economic Shutdown

“The biggest impact on the deficit happened in response to the pandemic and economic shutdown,” Brady said.

He explained that the six laws provided economic relief and “added over $4.4 trillion to the debt.”

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to Now

Not all laws have increased the deficit, although it may be too soon to know to what extent.

“The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was scored by CBO as reducing the deficit by $294 billion through 2031 through new taxes and by providing funding for increased tax enforcement by the IRS,” Brady said.

However, he noted that some of the “enforcement funding has been rescinded” and that the CBO later determined that the electric vehicle credits may reduce revenue more than expected.

“Additional laws since 2021 increased spending by $719 billion through 2031 for the infrastructure law, veterans health, the CHIPS, and supplemental funding for the wars in Ukraine and Israel,” Brady added.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Harris vs. Trump: Here’s Who’s Better for the National Debt, According to Experts

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