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Though Polish voters in October ousted their right-wing populist government, recent elections in Slovakia and the Netherlands show that populism remains as malign and potent a political force as ever in Europe. But these outcomes also hold important lessons for the United States, where the specter of Donald Trump’s return to the White House haunts the runup to the 2024 presidential election.
BOSTON: Few people desire to saddle their children with mountains of debt as an inheritance. After decades of pushing the costs of today’s expenditures and promises onto future generations, that bit of family wisdom appears - at long last - to be influencing government policy.
Most West European countries lowered budget deficits to 3% of GDP to meet the terms for joining the European Monetary Union. America has recorded a balanced budget after five years of sharp trimming. In the transition countries, belt-tightening is a key part of free market reforms. So, are future generations now safe from fiscal profligacy now that hard fiscal discipline seems in place? Unfortunately, future generations remain under threat.
The problem is that balanced budgets and stable debt-to-national income ratios are poor indicators of generational equity. Why? Government promises made today but doled out tomorrow, such as social security payments, do not show up in annual budgets. Nor do standard accounting methods tell us which generation must ultimately pay for government consumption spending. An innovation called "generational accounting" sheds new light on the issue of generational equity.
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