Dead Men Ruling

To open the 2015 discussion series, I had the great pleasure to meet C. Eugene Steulerle about his most recent book, Dead Men Ruling: How to Restore Fiscal Freedom and Rescue Our Future. 

With the gross domestic product per household nearing $145,000 and government spending per household around $55,000 annually, we are not in a time of austerity - but one of extraordinary possibility.  We are however, constrained by a disease unique to our time - the culmination of decades of political effort to gain control over an uncertain future.  Like most chronic diseases, resources are begin wasted through misdiagnosis and treatment of symptoms: Deficits.

Deficit reduction is not enough.  It's comparable to keeping our windows and doorways open, then setting traps for unwanted animals.  Isn't it finally time to close the windows and close the doors by limiting the automatic spending increases for government programs that were designed to fulfill the legacy of politicians, now dead or long-retired. 

This leaves our newly elected representatives with an increasingly smaller amount of discretionary spending, and a lower capacity to implement the changes upon which they were elected.  Let's take a look at the Steuerle-Roeper Fiscal Democracy Index, which depicts the percentage of federal revenues remaining after mandatory spending.  Nearly all dollars are spent prior to the start of the congressional session.  This fact effectively removes decision-making capability and decreases the flexibility of our government to respond to new issues. 

Consistent misinformation, fear, and emotional reactions discourage intelligent conversation.  Let's reintroduce ourselves to the concepts of 'money', 'uncertainty', and 'long-term', to grasp a real understanding of the current fiscal climate and the opportunities that lay ahead.  Speak with your spouse, friends, colleagues, children, and students - it's their opportunity too.
____________________________________
Thank you for an enlightening discussion today.  Please find more by @EugeneSteuerle from his blog, "The Government We Deserve." 

Mr Steuerle is the Richard B. Fischer Chair and Institute Fellow at the Urban Institute, and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution, and a columnist for the Financial Times.  He serves on advisory panels for the Congressional Budget Office, Government Accountability Office, and the Joint Committee on Taxation.  An engaging man, and outstanding scholar - thanks for stopping in.