Politicians and some economists say that debts and deficits don't matter. Do they? Is the sky really falling or are those who worry about U.S. debt overreacting? What are the costs of debt? What are the lost opportunities?

A panel of academics (Veronique de Rugy, Jeff Miron, David Primo, and Bruce Yandle) answered the following questions: 

• How much debt is too much?
• What does the U.S. debt mean for the average citizen?
• What can be done to reduce the country's debt and spending deficits?

The panel's discussion addresses some of the best questions to ask and ways to examine spending, deficit, fiscal gimmicks and tricks as well as proposals for fixing the issues associated with spending, deficit, and debt.

Photos courtesty of flickr users Thomas Hawk and dno1967.