Economy and Federal Debt (2012)

In May 2012, Jefferson Center ran two concurrent Citizen Juries on the Economy and the Federal Debt.

The continued struggles of the U.S. economy and growing concerns about the federal government budget are major questions facing our nation. But public discussions of these complex issues are too often shallow and partisan – fueling anger and leading to gridlock instead of solutions. With a Citizens Jury, we can show how to move forward. In May 2012, meeting for six days over two weekends, a group of 24 randomly-selected citizens of Hennepin County will look at two topics:

• First, how should we Americans discuss economic issues? After examining information on major policies affecting the economy – for example, regulation or energy policy — the Jury will make practical suggestions about issues that deserve more attention from the public and policymakers.
• Second, what should we do about the federal government’s debt? Can we find areas of agreement between “budget hawks” who want to reduce government deficits now and Keynesians who believe short-term stimulus is more important?

For both questions, Jurors were given background information from experts and from advocates of different economic philosophies. The report on the issue is the first step in a long-term effort to use the Citizens Jury method to find answers for our nation’s greatest economic challenges.

Read the full report

Summaries of each day are also available: