The U.S. government and those of other countries could be using higher inflation to lessen the value of growing public debt resulting from increased spending during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new analysis by a Harvard economist working with The Heritage Foundation.
The study covers government spending from 2020 through 2022, the high point of the pandemic, and looked at the U.S. and 20 other economies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD.
Robert Barro, a distinguished fellow in economic thought at The Heritage Foundation who also is the Paul M. Warburg professor of economics at Harvard University, spoke about his research Thursday at an event at the leading think tank called “Inflation: Today’s Financial Pandemic.” (The Heritage Foundation is the parent organization of The Daily Signal.)
“What are the policy…
