Will the candidates discuss the federal deficit and debt tonight?

Tonight sees the second televised debate of this presidential campaign, and Vice President Harris’ first after President Biden’s disastrous performance in the first debate ended both his campaign and, effectively, his presidency.

In the Star Tribune last weekend, Evan Ramstad posed “9 questions about Minnesota’s economy I’d ask Harris, Trump.” They were all reasonable questions, but the big economic question for any candidate for the presidency has to be: “What will you do to get the federal budget deficit under control and curb the runaway growth of federal government debt?”

In June, the Congressional Budget Office forecast a budget deficit of $2.0 trillion in 2024 growing to $2.8 trillion by 2034. As a result, “Debt held by the public rises from 99 percent of GDP this year to 122 percent in 2034, surpassing its previous high of 106 percent of GDP.” And this assumes that interest rates fall from current levels. If “interest rates remain elevated and Congress extends expiring policies,” Brian Riedl of the Manhattan Institute notes, federal debt will go as high as 300% of GDP.

This ought to be the dominant economic issue of this election yet there was no question like this in the debate between President Trump and President Biden in June. Hopefully we’ll get one — and a decent answer — tonight. You hold your breath, if you want to.