The federal government cannot get its fiscal house in order, and quite frankly doesn't appear to have an interest in getting its fiscal house in order. So that, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis estimated that the Federal deficit for FY 2016 was $585 billion, which further increased in FY 2017 to $666 billion, and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget believes the deficit in FY 2018 will be $800 billion, and in FY 2019 they believe it will rise to $1.2 trillion. That is just the deficit per year, which doesn't take into account the aggregate fiscal deficit that the Federal government has which is over a staggering $21 trillion dollars.
Still, somehow, Moody's maintains its AAA credit rating on United States debt, which signifies that foreign and domestic buyers of that debt believe that the United States is good for the money. This also signifies that when it comes time to borrow money, because the United States monetary needs are so massive, in addition to their credit rating being so stellar, that the sheer size of the debt being required by this government basically crowds out other borrowers that are seeking personal and corporate loans. That is to say, the government in its need to borrow money competes against individuals and corporations that also have a need to borrow money. So then, not too surprisingly, loans are typically structured in a manner in which the most credit worthy consumers of those loans get the very best deals and the smoothest access to money, as opposed to all those that have less than stellar credit. In other words, the greater the amount of money that any government has to borrow in order to sustain itself, contributes to the reduction of aggregate economic growth within that country, because there is only so much money to go around, and hence those borrowers of money with less than exceptional credit ratings, are either not going to get the loan that they need to expand their business, or will have to pay a higher rate for that loan, either of which impacts the sustainability and profitability of that business, and consequently lowers economic growth.
On the other hand, if the government had its fiscal house in order, this would free up billions upon billions of dollars to be reinvested into companies and businesses within America, and would contribute to a better economy and higher growth, especially in consideration that big governments are incredibly inefficient in the expenditure of the money and resources that they have so allocated to them. Additionally, governments have a strong tendency to play favorites, of which those that are qualified to be those favorites, must also be industry leaders, for nobody else has the necessary impact, other than the biggest corporations, because only the biggest corporations have the ready resources and qualifications to perform the tasks and work needed by big government; leaving the little guy, as nothing much more than an afterthought and pretty much out of luck.