The Fiscal Policy Podcast with Fexingo: Government Budgets, Stimulus, and Public Spending

In this episode of The Fiscal Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the economics of toll roads—why some governments privatize them, why others keep them public, and what happens when a toll road goes bankrupt. They anchor on the specific case of the Indiana Toll Road, a 157-mile stretch that was leased to a private consortium in 2006 for $3.8 billion, only to see that consortium file for bankrup...

When Congress can't agree on spending, the Treasury turns to a surprising source: the Federal Reserve. This episode unpacks the Treasury General Account — the government's checking account — and how its balance swings from $100 billion to over $800 billion, draining liquidity from markets. Lucas and Luna explain why the TGA matters for bond yields, repo rates, and your 401(k). They walk through th...

Lucas and Luna dig into the wave of state-level income tax cuts sweeping the country — from Florida to Kansas to North Carolina — and ask whether the promised economic boom actually materializes. They walk through Kansas's failed 2012 experiment, the contrasting outcomes in states like California and New York, and the fiscal traps lurking when revenues slow. Lucas cites a 2025 Federal Reserve stud...

In the debut episode of The Fiscal Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna start with a staggering number: the U.S. national debt has passed $36 trillion for the first time as of last week. They unpack what that actually means—who holds the debt, how much is owed to foreign governments versus domestic investors, and why the interest cost alone is now over $1 trillion per year. They use the 2025 Congression...