Unrig the Rules: The Case for Repealing Congressional PAYGO

Our nation is facing once-in-a-generation challenges—a global pandemic that has devastated our economy and taken more than 220,000 lives (in the US alone), the existential threat of climate change, and a massive recession. In the last seven months, the economy has shed 11 million jobs, half of which are permanent losses. There is a growing consensus among economists that we can only address these problems with a bold, expansive program of public investment. A major impediment to spending on the scale these challenges require, however, is “pay as you go” (PAYGO). PAYGO is a budget enforcement mechanism that requires tax cuts and mandatory spending increases to be offset by tax increases or cuts elsewhere in the budget.