预算赤字、联邦债务与美国两党的政治博弈

Budget Deficit,Federal Debt,and the Concomitant Fights between the Democrats and Republicans in the U.S.

美国政府的巨额预算赤字与联邦债务,在过去40余年中持续引发了民主党与共和党之间的政治博弈,导致国会的预算拨款流程和债务上限调整每每陷入僵局。从里根政府开始,共和党每次完成政党轮替后,都在执政初期推出了大规模的减税政策,导致美国政府的预算赤字迅速增长。与此同时,历届民主党政府对待预算赤字的态度也经历了显著变化。克林顿政府将削减预算赤字作为施政的优先目标,而从奥巴马政府到拜登政府,民主党对于控制预算赤字的重视程度逐步下降,转而优先推动符合自身意识形态偏好的福利和公共投资项目。由于两党在各自执政期间,都缺乏采取实际行动控制预算赤字与联邦债务的意愿,加之应对全球金融危机和新冠疫情大流行实施的经济刺激带来的财政负担,预算赤字与联邦债务问题日趋无解,为美国经济和国际经济埋下了重大隐患。

The U.S.government's huge budget deficit and federal debt have continually ignited battles between Democrats and Republicans over the past forty years,leading to repeated stalemates in Congress over the budget appropriation process and debt limit adjustments.Starting with the Reagan administration,each time the Democratic Party transferred power to the Republican Party after the presidential election,the Republican administrations promoted massive tax cuts at the beginning of their tenure,leading to a rapid increase in the federal budget deficit.At the same time,the attitude of Democratic administrations toward the budget deficit has undergone significant changes.The Clinton administration made reducing the budget deficit a priority,but from the Obama administration to the incumbent Biden administration,the Democrats'emphasis on controlling the budget deficit has gradually faded,and they have instead prioritized promoting welfare and public investment programs that align with their ideological preferences.