Kent Conrad: “If we balance the budget and the economists are correct that that would reduce interest rates by 1 percent, that would…”

“If we balance the budget and the economists are correct that that would reduce interest rates by 1 percent, that would mean on a typical mortgage, a savings of $900 a year. Over 5 years it would be over $4,500 in savings for a homeowner. On a car loan, that would be savings of $400, and approximately $1,000 a year in savings to the typical North Dakota farmer because of interest savings. I think we have to keep our eye on the ball here. The first and most important step we can take is to balance this budget. That will reduce interest expenses on nonfinancial sector debt by $145 billion. That will provide enormous lift to this economy. That is really the single best thing we could do for the country.”