In my opinion, the US Government has been spending money on their “credit card” thinking it will never receive the credit card bill in the mail.  But, it’s coming.  And, I am not the only observer with this opinion.  Peter Orszag is fearful too.

Peter Orszag wrote a column in the Financial Times last week. (Orszag was the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Obama.) His closing paragraph:

“The bottom line is that there may well be U.S. public debt tremors this year, both during federal debate over raising the debt ceiling and with at least a limited number of crises in local and city governments. The bigger problem, though, lies beyond 2011, as the unsustainability of the federal government’s fiscal trajectory becomes increasingly clear. I hope it does not ultimately require a crisis to restore fiscal sustainability at the federal level, but I fear it will.”