Dave Ramsey Says Putting A Lid On Government Spending Could Spur Quick Recovery, But Wants America To Get An Extra Job

Dave Ramsey advocates a two-pronged approach to tackling the nation's $36 trillion debt: cutting excessive government spending and boosting revenue by lowering taxes to stimulate the economy.

What Happened: Responding to a caller’s question on tackling the national debt on an episode of ‘The Ramsey Show,’ Ramsey says, "It is kind of fun to watch them take a machete to the ridiculous spending," Ramsey observes that even though running a government of any size is “a different endeavor” to personal finance, he remarks that "the principle of being debt free still stands."

Drawing from personal finance's "get an extra job" strategy, he applies it at the federal level. "If you want to get out of debt, one of the things we tell you to do is get an extra job, right?… Let's increase the income of the United States of America by increasing the revenues produced by the tax system by, oddly enough, lowering the tax rates."

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Ramsey refers to the Laffer curve, saying, "Art Laffer has… the theory of.. as to a certain degree as you lower taxes… the economy heats up… because the people that are making money are putting money back into their businesses.. they make yet more money and they pay yet more taxes even though the rate is lower." He also critiques Keynesian economics, remarking, "I'm not a believer… I'm a free market guy."

On the spending side, Ramsey supports Elon Musk-led DOGE’s aggressive cost-cutting measures: "Cut the snot out of the expenses. So if you could ever get it right side up… then could you start to pay off the debt? Absolutely, you could."

He also talks about the detrimental impact of government borrowing: "When the government runs debt it sucks the bone marrow out of the economy." Yet he remains optimistic that halting this practice would ignite growth: "The thing could really heat up and the revenues could go through the roof."

Ultimately, Ramsey likens this approach to the radical shift individuals undergo when they decide to eliminate their own debt. "You're going to go do radical stuff to get your life back and get out of debt."

Image via Ramsey Solutions

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