Larry Summers gave a keynote speech at a Peterson Institute workshop on fiscal policy a couple of weeks ago. The take-home message: the long run US fiscal deficit is becoming a matter of very real, not manufactured, concern.

During the 2010s, many left and center-left people got used to ignoring worries about the deficit. Paul Krugman, for instance, frequently called out conservatives for concern trolling the deficit with the goal of pushing spending cuts.

But today, with a 10-year-ahead deficit forecast of 7.3 percent, including a 3.6 percent primary deficit (conservative CBO estimates), high interest rates amplifying debt service costs for the forseeable future, and no political will on either side of the aisle to reduce spending or raise taxes, such concerns can no longer be dismissed.

Summers isn't everyone's cup of tea, but he's really good at synthesizing big picture economic problems.