Type of Document	Master's Thesis
Author	Sage, Michael
Author's Email Address	michas1@vt.edu
URN	etd-05182011-232050
Title	The Political Economy of the Emerging U.S. Fiscal Crisis
Degree	Master of Public and International Affairs
Department	Public and International Affairs
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Rothschild, Joyce Committee Chair Datz, Giselle Committee Member Luke, Timothy W. Committee Member
Keywords	History of U.S. Federal Budget Fiscal Crisis U.S. Fiscal Policy Financial Crisis Political Economy
Date of Defense	2011-05-03
Availability	restricted
Abstract The United States suffered a severe financial crisis in September of 2008, the effects of which are still strongly reverberating throughout the national economy and the finances of American government. While the financial downturn greatly exacerbated the nation’s immediate fiscal stress, government policies have played a large role in the longer-term economic challenges. The buildup of financial insecurity for individuals and businesses since the 1970s, brought to painfully emphatic clarity by the 2008 financial crash, has citizens of all political persuasions deeply concerned about the future of the Republic. This thesis attempts to explain the historical context which is indispensable to understanding the significance of our current fiscal challenges. In doing so, we come to the conclusion that rising entitlement spending, coupled with severe problems within the nation’s tax system, have become the primary drivers of the significant fiscal stress that is building. I argue that the most immediately viable option for reversing this trend, in a way that supports economic opportunity for all, is to implement fundamental tax reform to lift the current system’s burdens of complication, inefficiency, and inequity off the shoulders of American taxpayers and businesses.
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