"It's just never been more uncertain."
The U.S. government's gap between spending and income was the second largest on record last year--$1.294 trillion in fiscal 2010, the Treasury
Department said last month. The deficit amounted to 8.9% of gross domestic product. That is down from fiscal 2009, when the deficit of $1.416 trillion was 10.0% of GDP. Fiscal years end Sept. 30.
The Congressional Budget Office, meanwhile, forecasts that federal debt will reach 69.4% of GDP by 2020 from 36% before the economic crisis.
Fishman said that businesses have a hard time understanding the impact of the debt on the economy, and have little clarity on the policies that may be enacted to cut it. That makes executives take a more conservative, cautious path, he said.
Business executives "are accustomed to operating in unclear environments. This one is just different," Fishman said.
Fishman said it would likely require broad-based, collective sacrifice to reduce the debt.