Through eye-opening analysis of the role of debt in American history, a renowned finance expert and three-term Democratic mayor of Houston illuminates how debt now threatens our future
Bill White is a fiscally conservative politician with progressive principles. In America’s Fiscal Constitution, he tells the story of generations of leaders, beginning with our founding fathers, who established clear limits on federal debt?a remarkable tradition that suddenly collapsed.
For over 180 years the U.S. government borrowed only to preserve the union, expand and link federal territory, wage war, and plug temporary budget holes during economic downturns. Federal leaders then imposed tax rates that reduced the burden of debt once the emergency need passed. But since 2000, the federal government has borrowed to pay for routine operating expenses, and the traditional link between spending and taxation has been broken. White dispels common myths and highlights practical lessons gleaned from prior struggles to balance the budget. The profiles in courage he provides of past budget leaders highlight the type of leadership missing today.
America’s Fiscal Constitution provides a sorely needed?and hopeful?historical context in the debate on a pressing contemporary problem.
