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Brian Riedl and\xa0Shai Akabas\xa0discuss the U.S. federal budget, budget negotiations, and why Congress hasn\u2019t addressed the rising national debt\u2014even as it gets worse.

The case for a \u201cgrand deal\u201d on the budget has never been more evident: within a decade, annual budget deficits are projected to exceed $2 trillion. Entitlement programs are projected to drive trillions in new government debt over the next few decades. Yet increasing partisanship and political polarization\u2014both in Washington and among voters\u2014have significantly diminished the likelihood of bipartisan cooperation to avoid a fiscal calamity.

Riedl is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the author of a new report, Getting To Yes: A History Of Why Budget Negotiations Succeed, And Why They Fail. The report analyzes the past 40 years of successful and failed budget negotiations in Congress. Akabas is the director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center.