A Fiscal Cliff: New Perspectives on the U.S. Federal Debt Crisis

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.