NEW YORK (AP) — Many business economists say the biggest fiscal challenge facing the U.S. isn't what's happening now, it's what could happen beyond the next decade.
A survey of 220 members of the National Association for Business Economics finds 43 percent of the economists named budget gaps in the 2020s and 2030s as the top fiscal challenge, compared with 37 percent who chose projected deficits over the next 10 years.
Ballooning costs for Social Security and Medicare as the U.S. population ages are expected to result in growing long-term budget deficits.
The policy survey found no consensus on the best way to address those deficits.
The NABE says there is broader agreement about monetary policy, as most panelists think the Federal Reserve's current policy is "about right."
