The primary US fiscal challenge is the rising cost of servicing the national debt driven by higher long-term interest rates.

“So I'm not sure like the firing of Jerome Pal necessarily solves the US fiscal challenge which is rising interest rates on the long end of the Treasury curve.”

The US deficit now matters because higher interest rates make the current fiscal trajectory unsustainable without policy interventions.

“Now that rates have gone up and don't seem like they're, you know, going down anytime soon, the deficit does matter and it really matters.”