| Problem | Components |
|---|---|
| Policy issue area: | Economics |
| Policy issue: | Taxing |
| Description: | Annual Federal government deficits in excess of $300 billion per year in 1990 and beyond. |
| Symptoms: | High interest rates, tending to result in inflation, damage to economy (housing, cars), unfavorable balance of trade (decline in exports and indirect subsidies to imports); worsening of the international debt crisis; loss of confidence by allies in American capacity as world leader; United States became the world's largest debtor. |
| Causes: | Insufficient taxation and/or excessive expenditures of the Federal budget; caused by the administration's supply side economic program; political disagreement on how the budget should be balanced. |
| Cost of problem: | Hundreds of billions of dollars in future interest payments. |
| Solution | Components |
| Resources: | Universities and research institutes; business and industry; government policy makers; taxpayers. |
| Goal: | Prevent deficits in excess of levels that jeopardize economic growth and prosperity. |
| Program area: | Financial resources development |
| Program-remedy: | 1. The Common Good Covenant -- the careful balancing of our economic and social needs
with the existing and new revenues available 2. Gradual reduction of defense expenditures by a policy of multilateral cutbacks of armed forces worldwide 3. Securing additional tax compliance 4. Reduce spending by $50 billion, and increase taxes by $50 billion per year. |
| Program-prevent: | Moral and transforming presidential leadership, with an on-going foresight and remedial program development capability. |
| Cost of program: | - |
| Beneficiaries: | Taxpayers; business and industry; workers. |