Conventional wisdom holds that the congressional supercommittee established by the debt-ceiling deal to propose further deficit reduction will go nowhere. I'm not so sure. There is a grand compromise to be had. It does, however, require precise sequencing. To succeed it must proceed in three stages: (1) Tax Reform True tax reform that removes loopholes while lowering tax rates is the Holy Grail of social policy. It appeals equally to left and right because, almost uniquely, it promotes both economic efficiency and fairness: Economic efficiency — because it removes tax dodges that distort capital flows (and thereby diminish productivity) while...