Posted on 08/26/2020 7:12:32 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
As an economist, I have written extensively about the Swiss debt brake as a potential solution to the U.S. debt crisis. The United States is experiencing debt fatigue and must enact new fiscal rules to restore sustainable debt levels at both the national and subnational levels. The Swiss debt brake has proven to be the most effective set of fiscal rules in accomplishing this objective, cutting debt burdens in that country by half. The Swiss debt brake has been the model for more effective fiscal rules, adopted by European nations and the European Union.
The Swiss debt brake, whcih assures a balanced budget over the long term, has been effective in large part because it was enacted through initiative and referendum at the cantonal and national levels. An initiative incorporated the debt brake into the Swiss Constitution. Swiss citizens approved the debt brake overwhelmingly; about 85 percent expressed their support. Referendum and initiatives are direct-democratic institutions, which give Swiss citizens the power to vote on most important tax and expenditure decisions.
Although there are no provisions for a referendum at the federal level in the United States, there is a precedent for using direct democracy at the state level to control fiscal decision-making. In Colorado, for example, voters enacted the tax and expenditure limit through an initiative and incorporated it into the state’s constitution.
Changes at the federal level can only be made by federal law, which can easily be reversed, or through an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which can be created by Congress or by an Article V amendments convention of the states. In either case, three-fourths of states must ratify the amendment for it to become law.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
We had a perfectly good “debt brake.”
It was called the gold standard.
Yeah - it has been tried before in America.
Total joke.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_Budget_Act_of_1997
If you don’t talk about import tariffs them you are not serious about the debt. If you are against tariffs then just shut up about debt .
RE: If you dont talk about import tariffs them you are not serious about the debt.
Can you explain to us how the two are related?
This is a pipe dream for the U.S. It’s like taking candy away from a 3-year-old (the political class).
Paybacks are going to be hell when it finally arrives. The big economic question is when — months - years??
25 TRILLION!
It’s a pipedream, perfesser. We’ve become a nation of greedy, whining, short-attention-span children, and children don’t have “brakes,” especially when they’re spending what they think is other people’s money.
Quit creating money to infinity, from-thin-air, or USA will perish.
Quit importing goods virtual duty free and at the same time collecting income/payroll taxes from our domestic work force.
Why?
It’s the American way.
What you advocate is thus unAmerican
Tariffs were one of the pillars of the American System that allowed the rapid development and industrialization of the United States. The United States pursued a protectionist policy from the beginning of the 19th century until the middle of the 20th century.
In a tariff based tax system, people are only taxed if they purchase foreign made goods. If youre in Canada there are province to province tariffs also, so thats an additional potential tax that consumers would pay however heres the kicker when it comes to tariff taxes. The actual tax is paid by the businesses and then passed onto the consumers. Which in real terms equates to the consumers having a choice to pay or not to pay the tax.
Read more here: Tariffs vs. Income Taxes Which tax is better?
You are promoting an America that has not been for decades and is no longer. Today is 2020, not not 1790
We have 50 states not thirteen destitute colonies.
PS: Adam Smith, your heroic free trade DemiGod, wrote his crap in the 18th century.
Let me update this.
Debt CRISIS! I’ve heard this nonsense for DECADES!
Crisis:
“the turning point of a disease when an important change takes place, indicating either recovery or death.”
If the debt were a disease (many would argue it is an addiction and addiction is a disease) then we are at the “turning point” of “RECOVERY or DEATH”.
But we’ve been at this “recovery or death”, “turning point” for DECADES! and yet we’re very much alive.
Not only are we not “DEAD”, we just spent TRILLIONS on defense and TRILLIONS on coronavirus.
Hey, Chicken Little, no one believes you.
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