The year-on-year rate of increase in the amount outstanding of bank lending has been rising in recent months, as major banks’ lending stance has become active.
Plans recently put forward by the President’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform and other prominent groups provide useful starting points for a much-needed national conversation about our medium- and long-term fiscal situation. Although these various proposals differ on many details, each gives a sobering perspective on the size of the problem and offers some potential solutions.