New Delhi, July 15 -- Recent weeks have been momentous for government budgets in the US and Germany. In the US, both Houses of Congress passed versions of President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, which Trump signed on the US Independence Day, 4 July. In Germany, meanwhile, Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government agreed to the outlines of a 2025 budget and a spending path for the rest of the decade.

Both fiscal plans augur larger budget deficits and higher debt. But that is about all they have in common.

The US budget will make permanent Trump's 2017 tax cuts and add exemptions for tip income, overtime pay and loan interest on domestically assembled motor vehicles. It will 'pay' for these provisions-if that's the right word-by cut...