What a Difference a Half-century Makes

Post #1031

To get into the European Union, prospective nations had to meet criteria regarding fiscal responsibility, known as the Maastricht Criteria. One of them is to hold-the-line on annual deficits, so that they do not exceed 3% of any nation’s GDP. Though it would not want to, the US has been so irresponsible lately that it could not even join the EU:

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NOTE: We also fail the fiscal responsibility benchmark of holding national debt down below 60% of GDP.

The evidence suggests that when you allow your nation to drift away from capitalism, by growing the government, then you can no longer pay the bills. A hard limit could be placed upon the federal government from the outside, using Article V of the U.S. Constitution (a convention of the states for proposing urgently-needed amendments).

Fiscal responsibility benchmarks could be inserted into the U.S. Constitution by way of an Article V amendments convention. Restricting the size and scope of the federal government from the outside (by way of an Article V amendments convention) could restore freedom, the Rule of Law, and our characteristic prosperity.

If politicians complain that public pressure makes them utilize the fiscal wiggle-room that they have in order to stay in office by remaining popular (because of buying their constituents expensive gifts), then the permanent solution to that problem is to take away that wiggle-room.

Reference

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Gross Domestic Product [GDP], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GDP

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Net Federal Government Saving [FGDEF], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FGDEF

[Maastricht Criteria found in the Maastricht Treaty] — https://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb-and-you/explainers/tell-me-more/html/maastricht_treaty.en.html