A default on the federal debt is "quite likely," at some point in the not-so-distant future, considering the spending patterns that are going on, economist Ben Stein told Newsmax TV on Saturday.
"We're spending money as if there were no obligation to repay it, and it is extremely likely that we will, at some point in your lifetime, you're a lot younger than I am, see a default on the federal debt," Stein told host Benny Johnson on "The Count."
However, Stein said the current deficit is not unprecedented, as there was a "much bigger' deficit in relation to the size of the economy in the World War II years from 1942-1945.
But the current amounts are "very large" in peacetime years and mark a "frightening number," Stein said.
Meanwhile, the economy remains "fairly strong," even if it is not as robust as it was a few years ago, before the coronavirus pandemic, Stein said.
"We have been shoveling money into the economy, borrowing it, shoveling money in the economy, and it is working," Stein said. "The problem comes when and if we have to repay it. But way are seeing amazingly strong economy. I have to say [Donald] Trump is no longer running for anything, but he did an astonishing job, keeping the economy revved up."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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