Fiscal conservatism

Last updated

Fiscal conservatism or economic conservatism [1] is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, and laissez-faire economics. [2] [3] Fiscal conservatives advocate tax cuts, reduced government spending, free markets, deregulation, privatization, free trade, and minimal government debt. [4] Fiscal conservatism follows the same philosophical outlook as classical liberalism. This concept is derived from economic liberalism. [5]

Contents

The term has its origins in the era of the American New Deal during the 1930s as a result of the policies initiated by modern liberals, when many classical liberals started calling themselves conservatives as they did not wish to be identified with what was passing for liberalism in the United States. [6] In the United States, the term liberalism has become associated with the welfare state and expanded regulatory policies created as a result of the New Deal and its offshoots from the 1930s onwards. [7]

Fiscal conservatives form one of the three legs of the traditional American conservative movement that emerged during the 1950s together with social conservatism and national defense conservatism. [8] Many Americans who are classical liberals also tend to identify as libertarian, [9] holding more cultural liberal views and advocating a non-interventionist foreign policy while supporting lower taxes and less government spending. [8] As of 2020, 39% of Americans polled considered themselves "economically conservative". [10]

Because of its close proximity to the United States, the term has entered the lexicon in Canada. [11] In many other countries, economic liberalism or simply liberalism is used to describe what Americans call fiscal conservatism. [12] [13]

Overview

Principles

Fiscal conservatism is the economic philosophy of prudence in government spending and debt. The principles of capitalism, limited government, and laissez-faire economics form its ideological foundation. [2] [3] Fiscal conservatives advocate the avoidance of deficit spending, the lowering of taxes, and the reduction of overall government spending and national debt whilst ensuring balanced budgets. In other words, fiscal conservatives are against the government expanding beyond its means through debt, but they will usually choose debt over tax increases. [14] They strongly believe in libertarian principles such as individualism and free enterprise, and advocate deregulation, privatization, and free trade. [4]

In his Reflections on the Revolution in France , Edmund Burke argued that a government does not have the right to run up large debts and then throw the burden on the taxpayer, writing "it is to the property of the citizen, and not to the demands of the creditor of the state, that the first and original faith of civil society is pledged. The claim of the citizen is prior in time, paramount in title, superior in equity. The fortunes of individuals, whether possessed by acquisition or by descent or in virtue of a participation in the goods of some community, were no part of the creditor's security, expressed or implied. ... [T]he public, whether represented by a monarch or by a senate, can pledge nothing but the public estate; and it can have no public estate except in what it derives from a just and proportioned imposition upon the citizens at large". [15]

Factions or subgroups

Although all fiscal conservatives agree generally on a smaller and less expensive government, there are disagreements over priorities. [8] There are three main factions or subgroups, each advocating for a particular emphasis. Deficit hawks emphasize balancing government budgets and reducing the size of government debt, viewing government debt as economically damaging and morally dubious since it passes on obligations on to future generations who have played no part in present-day tax and spending decisions. [8] Deficit hawks are willing to consider tax increases if the additional revenue is used to reduce debt rather than increase spending. [8]

A second group put their main emphasis on tax cuts rather than spending cuts or debt reduction. Many embrace supply-side economics, arguing that as high taxes discourage economic activity and investment, tax cuts would result in economic growth leading in turn to higher government revenues. [8] According to them, these additional government revenues would reduce the debt in the long term. They also argue for reducing taxes even if it were to lead to short term increases in the deficit. [8] Some supply-siders have advocated that the increases in revenue through tax cuts make drastic cuts in spending unnecessary. [8] However, the Congressional Budget Office has consistently reported that income tax cuts increase deficits and debt and do not pay for themselves. For example, the CBO estimated that the Bush tax cuts added about $1.5 trillion to deficits and debt from 2002 to 2011 [16] and it would have added nearly $3 trillion to deficits and debt over the 2010–2019 decade if fully extended at all income levels. [17]

A third group makes little distinction between debt and taxes. This group emphasizes reduction in spending rather than tax policy or debt reduction. [18] They argue that the true cost of government is the level of spending not how that spending is financed. [8] Every dollar that the government spends is a dollar taken from workers, regardless of whether it is from debt or taxes. Taxes simply redistribute purchasing power; it does so in a particularly inefficient manner, reducing the incentives to produce or hire and borrowing simply forces businesses and investors to anticipate higher taxes later on. [18]

History

Classical liberalism

Classical liberalism in the United States forms the historical foundation for modern fiscal conservatism. Kathleen G. Donohue argues that classical liberalism in the 19th century United States was distinct from its counterpart in Britain:

[A]t the center of classical liberal theory [in Europe] was the idea of laissez-faire. To the vast majority of American classical liberals, however, laissez-faire did not mean no government intervention at all. On the contrary, they were more than willing to see government provide tariffs, railroad subsidies, and internal improvements, all of which benefited producers. What they condemned was intervention in behalf of consumers. [19]

Economic liberalism owes its ideological creation to the classical liberalism tradition in the vein of Adam Smith, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Ayn Rand, and Ludwig von Mises. [19] They provided moral justifications for free markets. Liberals of the time, in contrast to modern ones, disliked government authority and preferred individualism. They saw free market capitalism as the preferable means of achieving economic ends. [2] [3]

Early to mid 20th century

In the early 20th century, fiscal conservatives were often at odds with progressives who desired economic reform. During the 1920s, Republican President Calvin Coolidge's pro-business economic policies were credited for the successful period of economic growth known as the Roaring Twenties. However, his actions may have been due more to a sense of federalism than fiscal conservatism as Robert Sobel notes: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards". [20]

Herbert Hoover addresses a large crowd in his 1932 presidential campaign. Hoover Campaign.jpg
Herbert Hoover addresses a large crowd in his 1932 presidential campaign.

Contrary to popular opinion, then-Republican President Herbert Hoover was not a fiscal conservative. He promoted government intervention during the early Great Depression, a policy that his successor, Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt, continued and increased [21] despite campaigning to the contrary. [22] Coolidge's economic policies are often popularly contrasted with the New Deal deficit spending of Roosevelt and Republican Party opposition to Roosevelt's government spending was a unifying cause for a significant caucus of Republicans through even the presidencies of Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Barry Goldwater was a famous champion of both the socially and fiscally conservative Republicans. [23]

In 1977, Democratic President Jimmy Carter appointed Alfred E. Kahn, a professor of economics at Cornell University, to be chair of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). He was part of a push for deregulation of the industry, supported by leading economists, leading think tanks in Washington, a civil society coalition advocating the reform (patterned on a coalition earlier developed for the truck-and-rail-reform efforts), the head of the regulatory agency, Senate leadership, the Carter administration and even some in the airline industry. This coalition swiftly gained legislative results in 1978. [24]

The Airline Deregulation Act (Pub.L. 95–504) was signed into law by President Carter on October 24, 1978. The main purpose of the act was to remove government control over fares, routes and market entry of new airlines from commercial aviation. The CAB's powers of regulation were to be phased out, eventually allowing market forces to determine routes and fares. The Act did not remove or diminish the Federal Aviation Administration's regulatory powers over all aspects of airline safety. [25]

In 1979, Carter deregulated the American beer industry by making it legal to sell malt, hops and yeast to American home brewers for the first time since the effective 1920 beginning of Prohibition in the United States. This Carter deregulation led to an increase in home brewing over the 1980s and 1990s that by the 2000s had developed into a strong craft microbrew culture in the United States, with 3,418 micro breweries, brewpubs and regional craft breweries in the United States by the end of 2014. [26]

Jimmy Carter, who reduced the debt-to-GDP ratio in the 1970s JimmyCarterPortrait2.jpg
Jimmy Carter, who reduced the debt-to-GDP ratio in the 1970s

Public debt as a percentage of GDP fell rapidly in the post-World War II period and reached a low in 1974 under Richard Nixon. Debt as a share of GDP has consistently increased since then, except under Carter and Bill Clinton. The United States national debt rose during the 1980s as Ronald Reagan cut tax rates and increased military spending. The numbers of public debt as a percentage of GDP are indicative of the process: [27] [28]


Reagan era

Ronald Reagan spent the most of any recent President (Carter to Obama) as measured by annual average percentage of the GDP. Federal Spending by President - Carter to Obama - v1.png
Ronald Reagan spent the most of any recent President (Carter to Obama) as measured by annual average percentage of the GDP.

Fiscal conservatism was rhetorically promoted during the presidency of Republican Ronald Reagan (1981–1989). During Reagan's tenure, the top personal income tax bracket dropped from 70% to 28% [30] while payroll taxes and the effective tax rates on the lower two income quintiles increased. [31] [32] Reagan cut the maximum capital gains tax from 28% to 20%, though in his second term he raised it back up to 28%. He successfully increased defense spending, but conversely liberal Democrats blocked his efforts to cut domestic spending. [33] Real GDP growth recovered strongly after the 1982 recession, growing at an annual rate of 3.4% for the rest of his time in office. [34] Unemployment dropped after peaking at over 10.7% percent in 1982, and inflation decreased significantly. Federal tax receipts nearly doubled from $517 billion in 1980 to $1,032 billion in 1990. Employment grew at about the same rate as population. [35]

According to a United States Department of the Treasury nonpartisan economic study, the major tax bills enacted under Reagan caused federal revenue to fall by an amount equal to roughly 1% of GDP. [36] Although Reagan did not offset the increase in federal government spending or reduce the deficit, his accomplishments are more notable when expressed as a percent of the gross domestic product. Federal spending fell from 22.2% of the GDP to 21.2%. [37] By the end of Reagan's second term, the national debt held by the public increased by almost 60% and the total debt equalled $2.6 trillion. In fewer than eight years, the United States went from being the world's largest creditor nation to the world's largest debtor nation. [38]

Ross Perot

In the 1992 presidential election, Ross Perot, a successful American businessman, ran as a third-party candidate. Despite significant campaign stumbles and the uphill struggles involved in mounting a third-party candidacy, Perot received 18.9% of the popular vote (the largest percentage of any third-party candidate in modern history), largely on the basis of his central platform plank of limited-government, balanced-budget fiscal conservatism. [39]

Clinton era

This table shows that Bill Clinton's Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 which increased the average federal tax rates for the top 1% while lowering average tax rates for the middle class was followed by President Barack Obama starting in 2013 through the partial expiration of the Bush tax cuts and that both tax increases lowered deficits relative to Congressional Budget Office policy baselines without them. Average US Federal Tax Rates 1979 to 2013.png
This table shows that Bill Clinton's Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 which increased the average federal tax rates for the top 1% while lowering average tax rates for the middle class was followed by President Barack Obama starting in 2013 through the partial expiration of the Bush tax cuts and that both tax increases lowered deficits relative to Congressional Budget Office policy baselines without them.

While the mantle of fiscal conservatism is most commonly claimed by Republicans and libertarians, it is also claimed in some ways by many centrist or moderate Democrats who often refer to themselves as New Democrats. Although not supportive of the wide range tax cut policies that were often enacted during the Reagan and Bush administrations, [40] [41] the New Democrat coalition's primary economic agenda differed from the traditional philosophy held by liberal Democrats and sided with the fiscal conservative belief that a balanced federal budget should take precedence over some spending programs. [41]

Former President Bill Clinton, who was a New Democrat and part of the somewhat fiscally conservative Third Way advocating Democratic Leadership Council, is a prime example of this as his administration along with the Democratic-majority congress of 1993 passed on a party-line vote the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 which cut government spending, created a 36% individual income tax bracket, raised the top tax bracket which encompassed the top 1.2% earning taxpayers from 31% to 39.6% and created a 35% income tax rate for corporations. [42] The 1993 Budget Act also cut taxes for fifteen million low-income families and 90% of small businesses. Additionally during the Clinton years, the PAYGO (pay-as-you-go) system originally introduced with the passing of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (which required that all increases in direct spending or revenue decreases be offset by other spending decreases or revenue increases and was very popular with deficit hawks) had gone into effect and was used regularly until the system's expiration in 2002. [43]

In the 1994 midterm elections, Republicans ran on a platform that included fiscal responsibility drafted by then-Congressman Newt Gingrich called the Contract with America which advocated such things as balancing the budget, providing the President with a line-item veto and welfare reform. After the elections gave the Republicans a majority in the House of Representatives, newly minted Speaker of the House Gingrich pushed aggressively for reduced government spending which created a confrontation with the White House that climaxed in the 1995–1996 government shutdown. After Clinton's re-election in 1996, they were able to cooperate and pass the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 which lowered the top capital gains tax rate from 28% to 20% and the 15% rate to 10%. [43]

After this combination of tax hikes and spending reductions, the United States was able to create budget surpluses from fiscal years 1998–2001 (the first time since 1969) and the longest period of sustained economic growth in United States history. [44] [45] [46]

Modern fiscal conservatism

Comparison of annual federal deficits (CBO 10-year forecast from prior to inauguration vs. the actual amount) during the Obama and Bush presidencies showcasing how George W. Bush added far more to the debt relative to the CBO 2001 forecast than Obama added relative to the CBO 2009 forecast CBO Forecast Comparison - Obama and GW Bush - v1.png
Comparison of annual federal deficits (CBO 10-year forecast from prior to inauguration vs. the actual amount) during the Obama and Bush presidencies showcasing how George W. Bush added far more to the debt relative to the CBO 2001 forecast than Obama added relative to the CBO 2009 forecast

American businessman, politician and former Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg considers himself a fiscal conservative and expressed his definition of the term at the 2007 British Conservative Party Conference, stating:

To me, fiscal conservatism means balancing budgets – not running deficits that the next generation can't afford. It means improving the efficiency of delivering services by finding innovative ways to do more with less. It means cutting taxes when possible and prudent to do so, raising them overall only when necessary to balance the budget, and only in combination with spending cuts. It means when you run a surplus, you save it; you don't squander it. And most importantly, being a fiscal conservative means preparing for the inevitable economic downturns – and by all indications, we've got one coming. [47]

While the term "fiscal conservatism" would imply budget deficits would be lower under conservatives (i.e., Republicans), this has not historically been the case. Economists Alan Blinder and Mark Watson reported in 2016 that budget deficits since WW2 tended to be smaller under Democratic Party presidents, at 2.1% potential GDP versus 2.8% potential GDP for Republican presidents, a difference of about 0.7% GDP. They wrote that higher budget deficits should theoretically have boosted the economy more for Republicans, and therefore cannot explain the greater GDP growth under Democrats. [48]

Rest of the world

As a result of the expansion of the welfare state and increased regulatory policies by the Roosevelt administration beginning in the 1930s, in the United States the term liberalism has today become associated with modern rather than classical liberalism. [7] In Western Europe, the expanded welfare states created after World War II were created by socialist or social-democratic parties such as the British Labour Party rather than liberal parties. [7] Many liberal parties in Western Europe tend to adhere to classical liberalism, with the Free Democratic Party in Germany being one example. [7] The Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom have a classical liberal and a social liberal wing of the party. In many countries, liberalism or economic liberalism is used to describe what Americans call fiscal conservatism. [12] [7] [49]

Fiscal conservatism in the United Kingdom was arguably most popular during the premiership of Conservative Margaret Thatcher. After a number of years of deficit spending under the previous Labour government, Thatcher advocated spending cuts and selective tax increases to balance the budget. As a result of the deterioration in the United Kingdom's public finances—according to fiscal conservatives caused by another spate of deficit spending under the previous Labour government, the late-2000s recession and by the European sovereign debt crisis—the Cameron–Clegg coalition (Conservative–Liberal Democrats) embarked on an austerity programme featuring a combination of spending cuts and tax rises in an attempt to halve the deficit and eliminate the structural deficit over the five-year parliament. [50]

In Canada, the rise of the socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation pushed the Liberal Party to create and expand the welfare state before and after World War II. [7] Fiscal conservatism in Canada is generally referred to as blue Toryism when it is present within the Conservative Party of Canada. [51] In Alberta, fiscal conservatism is represented by the United Conservative Party. [52] In Ontario, fiscal conservatism is represented by the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. [51]

The term is sometimes used in South Korea, where left-liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and conservative People Power Party (PPP) are the two main parties. [53] Fiscal conservatism is mainly represented by PPP. [54] South Korea's current president, Yoon Suk-yeol, is known as a "fiscal conservative". [55]

See also

Notes

  1. Everett, Jim A. C. (December 11, 2013). "The 12 Item Social and Economic Conservatism Scale (SECS)". PLOS ONE. 8 (12): e82131. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...882131E. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082131 . PMC   3859575 . PMID   24349200.
  2. 1 2 3 Hudelson, Richard (1999). Modern Political Philosophy (1999), Richard Hudelson, pp. 37–38. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN   9780765600219. Archived from the original on February 1, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 M. O. Dickerson et al., An Introduction to Government and Politics: A Conceptual Approach (2009) p. 129.
  4. 1 2 Coates 2012, p. 392.
  5. Ghosh 2006, p. 56.
  6. Grigsby 2004, p. 99.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fujii 2013, p. 541.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Coates 2012, p. 393.
  9. Grigsby 2004, p. 100.
  10. Brenan, Megan (May 20, 2020). "Americans Remain More Liberal Socially than Economically". Gallup. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  11. Farney & Rayside 2013, p. 12.
  12. 1 2 Johnston 2011, p. 210.
  13. Fujii 2013, pp. 541–542.
  14. Freeman, Robert M. (1999). Correctional Organization and Management: Public Policy Challenges, Behavior, and Structure. Elsevier. p. 109. ISBN   978-0-7506-9897-9.
  15. Burke, Edmund (1965). Reflections on the Revolution in France. New York: Arlington House.
  16. "CBO Changes in CBO's Baseline Projections Since January 2001". CBO. June 7, 2012. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  17. "CBO Budget and Economic Outlook 2009–2019". CBO. January 7, 2009. Archived from the original on November 12, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  18. 1 2 Coates 2012, p. 394.
  19. 1 2 Kathleen G. Donohue (2005). Freedom from Want: American Liberalism and the Idea of the Consumer. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 2. ISBN   9780801883910.
  20. Sobel, Robert (1988). "Coolidge and American Business". Coolidge Foundation. Archived from the original on May 12, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  21. "Herbert Hoover: Father of the New Deal". Cato Institute. September 29, 2011. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  22. "Campaign Address on the Federal Budget at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | The American Presidency Project". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  23. Paul S. Boyer; et al. (2007). The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People. Cengage Learning. p. 934. ISBN   978-0618801596.
  24. Vietor, Richard H. K. Contrived Competition: Regulation and Deregulation in America. Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0-674-43679-4. OCLC   897163998.
  25. Cannon, James R.; Richey, Franklin D. (2012). Practical Applications in Business Aviation Management. Government Institutes. ISBN   978-1605907703.
  26. "Small and Independent Brewers See Sustained Growth in 2017" Archived May 10, 2021, at the Wayback Machine . Brewers Association. March 27, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  27. "Combined Gross Public Debt United States 1900–2020". US Government Spending. 2020. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  28. "Federal Debt: Total Public Debt as Percent of Gross Domestic Product [GFDEGDQ188S]". FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and U.S. Office of Management and Budget. May 3, 2020. Archived from the original on February 20, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  29. "CBO Historical Budget Data April 2018" Archived November 17, 2018, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  30. Mitchell, Daniel J. (July 19, 1996). "The Historical Lessons of Lower Tax Rates". The Heritage Foundation. Archived from the original on May 30, 2007. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  31. "Social Security and Medicare Tax Rates". Social Security Administration. July 10, 2007. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  32. "Effective Federal Tax Rates: 1979–2001". Bureau of Economic Analysis. July 10, 2007. Archived from the original on May 9, 2007. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  33. Steven F. Hayward, The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution 1980–1989 (2009), p. 477.
  34. "Gross Domestic Product". Bureau of Economic Analysis. May 31, 2007. Archived from the original on August 26, 2009. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  35. Ronald Reagan. Microsoft Corporation. 2007. Archived from the original on October 28, 2009. Retrieved July 27, 2007.
  36. "Revenue Effects of Major Tax Bills" (PDF). 2003, Rev. Sept 2006. United States Department of the Treasury. Working Paper 81, Table 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 22, 2010. Retrieved July 13, 2019. Revised September 2006 edition Archived February 25, 2020, at the Wayback Machine .
  37. Chris Edwards, "Reagan's Budget Legacy," CATO Institute June 8, 2004 Archived December 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  38. "Reagan Policies Gave Green Light to Red Ink". The Washington Post. June 9, 2004. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  39. Rapoport, Ronald B.; Stone, Walter J. (December 21, 2007). Three's a Crowd: The Dynamic of Third Parties, Ross Perot, and Republican Resurgence. University of Michigan Press. ISBN   978-0-472-03099-6.
  40. Chapman, Stephen (July 22, 1993). "Clinton Won't Restore Punitive Taxation-not Today". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  41. 1 2 Nolan, Timothy (October 17, 2012). "A Brief History Of "Trickle-Down Government"". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on May 2, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  42. Steve Schifferes (January 15, 2001). "Bill Clinton's economic legacy". London. BBC News. Archived from the original on February 8, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  43. 1 2 Troy, Gil (2015). The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN   9781250063724.
  44. Wallace, Kelly (September 27, 2000). "President Clinton announces another record budget surplus". CNN. Archived from the original on October 13, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  45. King, John (May 1, 2000). "President Clinton announces record payment on national debt". CNN. Archived from the original on October 13, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  46. Jackson, Brooks (February 3, 2008). "The Budget and Deficit Under Clinton". FactCheck. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  47. "Mayor Bloomberg Delivers Remarks At 2007 Conservative Party Conference". New York City Government. September 30, 2007. Archived from the original on December 14, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  48. Blinder, Alan S.; Watson, Mark W. (April 2016). "Presidents and the U.S. Economy: An Econometric Exploration". American Economic Review. 106 (4): 1015–1045. doi: 10.1257/aer.20140913 . S2CID   32188412.
  49. Fujii 2013, p. 542.
  50. Rice, Nick (June 22, 2010). "Budget: Structural deficit to be balanced by 2015". Fund Strategy. Archived from the original on July 13, 2010. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
  51. 1 2 Wolak, Arthur (2014). The Development of Managerial Culture: A Comparative Study of Australia and Canada. Springer. p. 199.
  52. Kleiss, Karen (April 9, 2012). "Alberta election pits PC's 'red' versus Wildrose's 'blue' conservatives, experts say". National Post. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  53. "전 정부 '확장재정'은 착시?···코로나19 일시 지출 빼면 이미 윤 정부 건전성 목표 달성". Kyunghyang Shinmun . August 1, 2022. 전문가들은 국가재정이 보수, 진보 정권 할 것 없이 관료 주도로 보수적으로 운용해 왔다고 지적했다. 하준경 한양대 경제학부 교수는 "정권마다 접근법의 차이가 있어도 기본적으로 기획재정부 주도의 재정 보수주의가 국내 재정 정책을 지배해왔다"며 "코로나19 대응과 물가 상승 상황에서의 취약 계층 지원, 기술 패권 경쟁에 따른 정부의 역할 확대 등을 고려하면 긴축재정은 시대적 과제에 대응하기 어렵다"고 말했다.
  54. "South Korea votes in presidential election with inequality key concern". France 24 . September 9, 2022. The two parties are ideologically poles apart, and analysts say the key question is whether voters will kick out Moon's dovish Democratic Party and usher in a new hawkish, fiscally-conservative regime under opposition People Power party's Yoon.
  55. "Samsung commits $356 billion in investments with 80,000 new jobs". The Jakarta Post . May 27, 2022. The two parties are ideologically poles apart, and analysts say the key question is whether voters will kick out Moon's dovish Democratic Party and usher in a new hawkish, fiscally-conservative regime under opposition People Power party's Yoon.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reaganomics</span> Economic policies of Ronald Reagan

Reaganomics, or Reaganism, were the neoliberal economic policies promoted by U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. These policies are characterized as supply-side economics, trickle-down economics, or "voodoo economics" by opponents, while Reagan and his advocates preferred to call it free-market economics.

Supply-side economics is a macroeconomic theory postulating that economic growth can be most effectively fostered by lowering taxes, decreasing regulation, and allowing free trade. According to supply-side economics, consumers will benefit from greater supplies of goods and services at lower prices, and employment will increase. Supply-side fiscal policies are designed to increase aggregate supply, as opposed to aggregate demand, thereby expanding output and employment while lowering prices. Such policies are of several general varieties:

  1. Investments in human capital, such as education, healthcare, and encouraging the transfer of technologies and business processes, to improve productivity. Encouraging globalized free trade via containerization is a major recent example.
  2. Tax reduction, to provide incentives to work, invest and take risks. Lowering income tax rates and eliminating or lowering tariffs are examples of such policies.
  3. Investments in new capital equipment and research and development (R&D), to further improve productivity. Allowing businesses to depreciate capital equipment more rapidly gives them an immediate financial incentive to invest in such equipment.
  4. Reduction in government regulations, to encourage business formation and expansion.
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deficit spending</span> Spending in excess of revenue

Within the budgetary process, deficit spending is the amount by which spending exceeds revenue over a particular period of time, also called simply deficit, or budget deficit; the opposite of budget surplus. The term may be applied to the budget of a government, private company, or individual. Government deficit spending was first identified as a necessary economic tool by John Maynard Keynes in the wake of the Great Depression. It is a central point of controversy in economics, as discussed below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National debt of the United States</span>

The national debt of the United States is the total national debt owed by the federal government of the United States to Treasury security holders. The national debt at any point in time is the face value of the then-outstanding Treasury securities that have been issued by the Treasury and other federal agencies. The terms "national deficit" and "national surplus" usually refer to the federal government budget balance from year to year, not the cumulative amount of debt. In a deficit year the national debt increases as the government needs to borrow funds to finance the deficit, while in a surplus year the debt decreases as more money is received than spent, enabling the government to reduce the debt by buying back some Treasury securities. In general, government debt increases as a result of government spending and decreases from tax or other receipts, both of which fluctuate during the course of a fiscal year. There are two components of gross national debt:

A balanced budget amendment is a constitutional rule requiring that a state cannot spend more than its income. It requires a balance between the projected receipts and expenditures of the government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993</span>

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 was a federal law that was enacted by the 103rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 10, 1993. It has also been unofficially referred to as the Deficit Reduction Act of 1993. Part XIII of the law is also called the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1993.

The economic policies of Bill Clinton administration, referred to by some as Clintonomics, encapsulates the economic policies of president of the United States Bill Clinton that were implemented during his presidency, which lasted from January 1993 to January 2001.

In the United States, conservatism is based on a belief in limited government, individualism, traditionalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states. Conservative and Christian media organizations, along with American conservative figures, are influential, and American conservatism is one of the majority political ideologies within the Republican Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiscal policy of the United States</span>

Fiscal policy is any changes the government makes to the national budget to influence a nation's economy. "An essential purpose of this Financial Report is to help American citizens understand the current fiscal policy and the importance and magnitude of policy reforms essential to make it sustainable. A sustainable fiscal policy is explained as the debt held by the public to Gross Domestic Product which is either stable or declining over the long term". The approach to economic policy in the United States was rather laissez-faire until the Great Depression. The government tried to stay away from economic matters as much as possible and hoped that a balanced budget would be maintained. Prior to the Great Depression, the economy did have economic downturns and some were quite severe. However, the economy tended to self-correct so the laissez faire approach to the economy tended to work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States federal budget</span> Budget of the U.S. federal government

The United States budget comprises the spending and revenues of the U.S. federal government. The budget is the financial representation of the priorities of the government, reflecting historical debates and competing economic philosophies. The government primarily spends on healthcare, retirement, and defense programs. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office provides extensive analysis of the budget and its economic effects. It has reported that large budget deficits over the next 30 years are projected to drive federal debt held by the public to unprecedented levels—from 98 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 to 195 percent by 2050.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the United States public debt</span>

The history of the United States public debt started with federal government debt incurred during the American Revolutionary War by the first U.S treasurer, Michael Hillegas, after the country's formation in 1776. The United States has continuously had a fluctuating public debt since then, except for about a year during 1835–1836. To allow comparisons over the years, public debt is often expressed as a ratio to gross domestic product (GDP). Historically, the United States public debt as a share of GDP has increased during wars and recessions, and subsequently declined.

The economic policy and legacy of the George W. Bush administration was characterized by significant income tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, the implementation of Medicare Part D in 2003, increased military spending for two wars, a housing bubble that contributed to the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007–2008, and the Great Recession that followed. Economic performance during the period was adversely affected by two recessions, in 2001 and 2007–2009.

The phrase Bush tax cuts refers to changes to the United States tax code passed originally during the presidency of George W. Bush and extended during the presidency of Barack Obama, through:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reagan era</span> Period in the history of the United States, 1981–1991

The Reagan era or Age of Reagan is a periodization of recent American history used by historians and political observers to emphasize that the conservative "Reagan Revolution" led by President Ronald Reagan in domestic and foreign policy had a lasting impact. It overlaps with what political scientists call the Sixth Party System. Definitions of the Reagan era universally include the 1980s, while more extensive definitions may also include the late 1970s, the 1990s, and even the 2000s. In his 2008 book, The Age of Reagan: A History, 1974–2008, historian and journalist Sean Wilentz argues that Reagan dominated this stretch of American history in the same way that Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal legacy dominated the four decades that preceded it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Path to Prosperity</span> U.S. budget proposal of the Republican Party

The Path to Prosperity: Restoring America's Promise was the Republican Party's budget proposal for the federal government of the United States in the fiscal year 2012. It was succeeded in March 2012 by "The Path to Prosperity: A Blueprint for American Renewal", the Republican budget proposal for 2013. Representative Paul Ryan, Chairman of the House Budget Committee, played a prominent public role in drafting and promoting both The Path to Prosperity proposals, and they are therefore often referred to as the Ryan budget, Ryan plan or Ryan proposal.

Political debates about the United States federal budget discusses some of the more significant U.S. budgetary debates of the 21st century. These include the causes of debt increases, the impact of tax cuts, specific events such as the United States fiscal cliff, the effectiveness of stimulus, and the impact of the Great Recession, among others. The article explains how to analyze the U.S. budget as well as the competing economic schools of thought that support the budgetary positions of the major parties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deficit reduction in the United States</span> Economic policy debates and proposals designed to reduce the U.S. federal government budget deficit

Deficit reduction in the United States refers to taxation, spending, and economic policy debates and proposals designed to reduce the federal government budget deficit. Government agencies including the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the U.S. Treasury Department have reported that the federal government is facing a series of important long-run financing challenges, mainly driven by an aging population, rising healthcare costs per person, and rising interest payments on the national debt.

The United States fiscal cliff refers to the combined effect of several previously-enacted laws that came into effect simultaneously in January 2013, increasing taxes and decreasing spending.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012</span> Federal law in the United States changing taxation, "ATRA".

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) was enacted and passed by the United States Congress on January 1, 2013, and was signed into law by US President Barack Obama the next day. ATRA gave permanence to the lower rates of much of the "Bush tax cuts".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economic policy of the Donald Trump administration</span>

The economic policy of the Donald Trump administration was characterized by the individual and corporate tax cuts, attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), trade protectionism, immigration restriction, deregulation focused on the energy and financial sectors, and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

Further reading