There’s good news and bad news about the United States’ ongoing deficit and debt problems, according to high-profile economists who discussed the subject recently at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The good news is that the country’s long-term debt is a less pressing economic problem now than much of the political debate about the issue would indicate, at least according to some members of the panel.

The bad news is that a variety of policy options that could create jobs and economic growth—and in the process, reduce the country’s annual deficits and cumulative debt— are unlikely to advance in a political climate that has largely produced budget-cutting measures in 2011.

“The United States has an unemployment crisis and a debt problem, but many people in Washington are behaving as if we have a debt crisis and an unemployment problem,” said Peter Diamond, Institute Professor emeritus at MIT.

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