Fiscal Recklessness, Path Dependence, and Expressive Voting

Since the mid-1970s U.S. fiscal policy has been reckless, causing the debt-to-GDP ratio to balloon. Much of this problem has arisen from political ideology and expressive voting of people with an “unconstrained vision”—the idea that we can throw off real economic constraints and reach utopia if we get the government to spend more; that we can improve our lot by surrendering control of the economy and our lives to an anointed few with their unconstrained fantasies. If this worrisome trend continues, we may be headed for disaster.