Survey Says: Deficit is the #1 threat to the U.S. economy

A recent survey of American businesses suggested that the budget deficit has overtaken terrorism as the greatest short-term risk to the U.S. economy.

In the survey of 172 members of the National Association For Business Economics, 27 percent said the deficit or government spending was the largest short-term threat to the economy, up from 23 percent in August.

Terrorism dropped from 40 percent to 24 percent on the list of economic threats.

Concerns about energy rose from 6 percent to 11 percent and the threat of inflation fell from 9 percent to 6 percent.

Unemployment, which was seen as the greatest risk at this time last year, was cited by just 2 percent of those surveyed.

63 percent of respondents said the Federal Reserve's monetary policy is about right, which is up from 59 percent in August; however many agreed short-term interest rates should be increased (and according to the latest release found on CNN.com, they will be).
See article:
http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/21/news/economy/fed_walkup/index.htm

Interestingly enough, 69 percent agreed that the Social Security system had serious problems and was in need of some major repairs, repairs that were only given a 36 percent chance of occurrence.

What do you think is the biggest threat to the U.S. economy? Has the time come to look past the threat of terrorist attacks and shift our focus toward restructuring of fiscal policy and Social Security to ensure future economic stability?