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State: Are you optimistic that fiscal reform will happen?
DW: If we have a major financial crisis, it will force action. My
incentive is to do something before we face a crisis – and my
opinion is we will face a crisis unless we change course. I hope
action will take place in the next year to come up with meaningful
budget controls to slow the bleeding and to set the stage for
more permanent reform. Realistically, we are not likely to see
dramatic reforms until after the next presidential election.
I and others, such as the Concord Coalition, the Brookings Institution,
and the Heritage Foundation, are working to increase
the likelihood that the next president will have to make fiscal
responsibility a top priority. (Ross) Perot’s candidacy in 1992 had
a profound effect on (President Bill) Clinton’s agenda. The campaign
debate, as well as Bob Rubin serving as Treasury secretary,
made sure the steps were taken that needed to be. Ross won’t
run again, but I think there are things we can do to interject this
issue as a primary theme in 2008.
State: Tell us more about the Concord Coalition.
DW: Concord started in the early ‘90s. It is a bipartisan organization
focused on fiscal responsibility. They are taking the lead
in organizing and executing the “Fiscal Wake-Up Tour,” comprised
of a broad coalition of organizations which are stating the
facts and speaking the truth about where we are financially and
where we’re headed fiscally.
We have already been to 17 cities and have many more scheduled
through the 2008 presidential election. Along with the Concord
Coalition, the lead organizations in the “Fiscal Wake-Up Tour”
are the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation, but a
wide range of other organizations are also involved.
State: If there is one thought you want to leave us with, what
would that be?
DW: The key point is, we do not face an immediate crisis. Arguably,
that’s part of the problem. We suffer from shortsightedness
and self-centeredness, or to state it differently, myopia and tunnel
vision. The result of that is that when you look at today’s
economic growth, relatively low interest rates, inflation levels,
and unemployment rates, combined with healthy capital markets,
many say, “What’s the problem?”
The problem is not today. The problem is that we have a fiscal
cancer, and like any untreated cancer, if you don’t take it seriously,
change behavior, and take appropriate steps, it can have catastrophic
consequences over time. The time for action is now!
(Georgia State has agreed to be one of the stops on the
“Fiscal Wake-Up Tour.” The Robinson College is currently
working with the Concord Coalition for an event to be held in
the fall of this year.)
Read what faculty members William Custer and Conrad Ciccotello
say about health care and Social Security, a State of Business online
exclusive.
Conrad Ciccotello…on Saving for Retirement. 
Bill Custer…on Healthcare.
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