Are Current Budget Deficits More Worrisome Than Those of the 1980s?

In this article from U.S. Fixed Income Monthly, Rudy Penner argues that the political response today to the deteriorating budget situation is much different from the 1980s. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Congress worked vigorously to restore fiscal responsibility. There is little evidence of that occurring today and that makes the current situation much more worrisome than in the 1980s. One caveat is that revenues have become particularly difficult to forecast, making it especially difficult to assess the seriousness of the problem.