The Wreckage of Fiscal Policy

Friends,
Bush and his cronies have created havoc with the fiscal policey (oxymoron) and, just as in Iraq, they are handing it off to the next president. Here is a look from The Financial Times of London.

Peace and Love,
Rev O

"Competition for “most damaging legacy of the Bush administration” is lively. Iraq is the front-runner, of course, but bear in mind the wreckage of fiscal policy – although to use that term is to imply that the US even has a fiscal policy, when it does not. It would be more accurate to talk of fiscal consequences or fiscal footprint (an apt metaphor) than to imply anything as deliberate as “policy”. "

The issue is not so much that he moved the structural budget balance from surplus to deficit – though he did and that was a great pity – but that he spared the country until further notice the effort of examining its priorities and mending its failing fiscal machinery. In this election year, control of entitlements and far-reaching reform of the tax system are not even being discussed. Before too long, both will be unavoidable fiscal necessities. Cancelling Mr Bush is not enough."

The fiscal consequences of the Bush administration
Competition for “most damaging legacy of the Bush administration” is lively. Iraq is the front-runner, of course. All three presidential contenders criticise the administration on this, but none is offering much improvement, writes Clive Crook