How Bush ruined a decade's good work

摘要

President George W Bush has run the most reckless fiscal policy in the history of the US - so reckless that we can be sure that the policies will be reversed. The only questions are when and how. Will voters repudiate Bush's irresponsibility this autumn? Will Bush be forced to reverse himself in a second term? Or will the US suffer a long bout of political strife and economic malaise as long-term budget constraints catch up with a political system that is wedded to fiscal fantasies? The fiscal realities are clear, even if the political projections are not. Bush inherited a modest budget surplus, of 2.4% of GNP in fiscal year 2000 and 1.3% of GNP in fiscal year 2001. The appearance of fiscal health was a bit of fiction, because already the long-term projections of the main entitlements programmes for health and pensions showed a massive uncovered liability of tens of trillions of dollars in future decades. Still, Bush proceeded to grab the surplus, and much more, to justify tax cuts directed overwhelmingly at the top 20% of the taxpayers.