Fiscal Wake-Up Tour Brings Mission to Blackwell Auditorium
Corey Morris
Issue date: 11/18/09 Section: News
The Fiscal Wake-Up Tour, a bipartisan effort to aid the public in discussion concerning budget controls, tax reform, and government spending, presented this year's Francis B. Simkins Lecture. The lecture was held in the Blackwell Auditorium via video conference with three members of the tour. It was a full house, as many business students were on hand to write papers for their respected classes.
The three panelists were Executive Director of the Concord Coalition Robert Bixby, Director of Brookings Institution's Budgeting for National Priorities Isabel Sawhill and Director of The Heritage Foundation's Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies Alison Fraser. Attending in person were National Field Director of the Concord Coalition Harry Zeeve and Northeast Regional Director of Concord Coalition Jeff Thiebert to answer any additional questions.
The Fiscal Wake-Up tour, a project of the Concord Coalition, believes that fiscal policy is unsustainable in the current economic climate. It is designed to engage the public in a discussion about budget controls and deficit spending. "Public engagement is very important," said Bixby. He also said that there are simply "no easy solutions" in dealing with the national debt. "Finding solutions will require bipartisan cooperation."
This year's lecture organizers were Assistant Professor of Art and Chair of the University Lecture Committee Anna Cox, along with Assistant Professor of Mathematics Dr. David Shoenthal.
The discussion began with Bixby presenting a slideshow telling students "We need to sound an alarm in Washington." He talked about this fiscal year's budget situation, which was only $1.4 trillion, a drop from the expected $1.59 trillion projected. "There is something worse, and that is the future," said Bixby. If we continue to borrow from foreign countries, Bixby explained, then our interest will continue to balloon in the future. "We cannot finance our way out of this through big budget deficits," he continued. Bixby said that borrowing from other countries was not necessarily a bad thing, but it creates "leverage" for other countries over the United States.
The three panelists were Executive Director of the Concord Coalition Robert Bixby, Director of Brookings Institution's Budgeting for National Priorities Isabel Sawhill and Director of The Heritage Foundation's Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies Alison Fraser. Attending in person were National Field Director of the Concord Coalition Harry Zeeve and Northeast Regional Director of Concord Coalition Jeff Thiebert to answer any additional questions.
The Fiscal Wake-Up tour, a project of the Concord Coalition, believes that fiscal policy is unsustainable in the current economic climate. It is designed to engage the public in a discussion about budget controls and deficit spending. "Public engagement is very important," said Bixby. He also said that there are simply "no easy solutions" in dealing with the national debt. "Finding solutions will require bipartisan cooperation."
This year's lecture organizers were Assistant Professor of Art and Chair of the University Lecture Committee Anna Cox, along with Assistant Professor of Mathematics Dr. David Shoenthal.
The discussion began with Bixby presenting a slideshow telling students "We need to sound an alarm in Washington." He talked about this fiscal year's budget situation, which was only $1.4 trillion, a drop from the expected $1.59 trillion projected. "There is something worse, and that is the future," said Bixby. If we continue to borrow from foreign countries, Bixby explained, then our interest will continue to balloon in the future. "We cannot finance our way out of this through big budget deficits," he continued. Bixby said that borrowing from other countries was not necessarily a bad thing, but it creates "leverage" for other countries over the United States.
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