In general, how do rising budget deficits impact future tax burdens?

Rising budget deficits typically lead to increased future tax burdens due to the necessity of funding these deficits. When a government runs a budget deficit, it spends more than it earns in revenue, often borrowing to cover the gap. Over time, the accumulation of debt necessitates repayment, which can include both principal and interest payments.

As the government seeks ways to manage and eventually reduce this debt, one common approach is to raise taxes. This increase in taxes is often needed to generate the revenue that will be used to pay off the accumulated debt from previous deficits. Additionally, if the deficits are large enough, they can lead to a general economic environment where investors demand higher interest rates on government bonds, further increasing borrowing costs and necessitating future tax increases to cover these costs.

In contrast, the other options suggest that deficits could lessen tax burdens or have no effect, which contradicts the principle that sustained borrowing typically leads to higher future obligations for taxpayers. The option suggesting that the impact on future burdens may vary depending on government spending does not take into account the inherent relationship between deficits and the need for revenue to address those deficits.