A Fiscal Cliff - by John Merrifield & Barry Poulson (Paperback)

Number of Pages: 504
Genre: Business + Money Management
Sub-Genre: Government & Business
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Cato Institute
Age Range: Adult
Author: John Merrifield & Barry Poulson
Language: English

About the Book

$26 trillion and rising. This book explores the U.S. debt crisis from a public choice perspective, and proposes new fiscal rules and institutional changes to address the crisis.

Book Synopsis

The unsustainable, and still rapidly growing, U.S. federal government debt is a classic case of ''in denial." Despite numerous congressional committees, bipartisan commissions, and votes, we are no closer to a solution to the debt crisis than we were more than a decade ago. In fact, in 2018, a congressional committee was appointed to recommend budget process reforms, but that committee could not agree on any recommendations to submit to Congress.In this timely volume, scholars and policymakers assess the United States' fiscal constraints and provide new perspectives that are desperately needed in order to solve the nation's debt crisis. Previous recommendations focused on the outcomes of fiscal policy but perhaps we should take a step back and ask whether the fiscal and budget process rules themselves should be reformed. The essays in A Fiscal Cliff suggest that "unless we reform our fiscal rules and institutions, we are not likely to solve the debt crisis and restore sustainable fiscal policies." While the dominant sentiment is that maybe if we ignore it, it will just go away, the debt crisis will not just vanish. A Fiscal Cliff is a timely addition to a critical policy discussion.

Review Quotes

"'A Fiscal Cliff' is precisely the right book for perilous fiscal times. Giants in economics and public policy offer a spirited defense of fiscal rules critically needed to protect our children and grandchildren from a bleak future."--Richard K. Vedder, Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus, Ohio University

"The unsustainability of the federal budget is one of the nation's most pressing problems. 'A Fiscal Cliff, ' edited by two leading scholars of government budgeting in John Merrifield and Barry Poulson and featuring contributions from many of the nation's foremost experts on fiscal policy, provides this vital topic the treatment it deserves. This volume should be a guide to policymakers to implement fiscal rules that will constrain overspending and debt, ensuring the American dream for generations to come."--Matthew D. Dickerson, Policy Manager, Americans for Prosperity

"This book includes a number of essays from a range of scholars who provide their personal views on the nature and scope of our fiscal challenges, lessons from others, and possible solutions. I hope this book will serve to stimulate some much needed and long overdue discussion regarding how best to put our nation's finances in order so that our future can be better than our past."--David Walker, U.S. Comptroller General, 1998-2008

About the Author

JOHN MERRIFIELD is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He co-edits the Non- Partisan Education Review and is the president of the nascent Institute for Objective Policy Assessment (www.objectivepolicyassessment.org). He earned a PhD in economics from the University of Wyoming in 1984. Professor Merrifield has authored 5 books, co-edited 3 more, and published 56 peer-reviewed journal articles and has written multiple chapters in edited volumes concerning topics as wide-ranging as education economics, urban and regional economics, environmental and natural resource economics, and public finance. BARRY POULSON is professor emeritus at the University of Colorado Boulder and a visiting professor at several universities, including the University of North Carolina; Cambridge University; and Universidad Carlos Tercera, Madrid, Spain. His main area of expertise is economic development and economic history. His current focus is on fiscal policies and fiscal constitutions. He was the vice chair of the State Treasurer's Advisory Group on Constitutional Amendments in Colorado. Professor Poulson is an adjunct scholar of the Heritage Foundation and senior fellow of the Independence Institute.