Jeff Brown, a portfolio manager at American Funds, said debt is a long-term worry. It's not be an immediate problem because "there is no appetite in Congress to take on this issue,” he said, adding that this is partly due to the partisanship that reigns over Washington.
Several panelists also warned that entitlement spending is taking on a bigger and bigger part of federal spending, and that it could become unmanageable in less than a decade unless policies are changed.
Will the Trump tax cuts stimulating the economy enough to offset the increasing federal debt?
McLoughlin dismissed the idea.
He said tax cuts have paid for themselves with a stronger economy only once—the Kennedy/Johnson tax cut of 1964.