About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 Fiscal Policy Forum 1 (1983)

handle is hein.tera/fisporum0001 and id is 1 raw text is: POLICY - w 1M- w - w -r TAX FOUNDATION, INCORPORATED VOL. 1, NO. I JANUARY 1983 At Issue: The Balanced Budget Amendment Since the mid-70s, concern over the 6 size and growth of the Federal deficit and its effect on the economy has mounted. Feeling has also increased that successive Administrations and Congresses seem to be powerless to stop this trend, much less reverse it. One result of these perceptions has been the movement for a constitutional amendment to force the Federal govern- ment to balance the budget and limit spending. Over the last seven years, 31 states-4 short of the number required- have called for a constitutional convention to consider such an amendment. In the 97th Congress, such an amend- ment came dose to passing. On August 4th, the Senate approved the amendment 69-31, with all 100 Senators present and voting, a phenomenon which, in itself, is extremely rare. On October 1, 1982, the House of Representatives rejected the amendment. However, the vote of 236-187 was just 46 votes short of the requisite two-thirds majority needed to pass the amendment. Any further action rests with the newly elected 98th Congress. At the Tax Foundation's 34th National Conference on December 1, 1982, three leading economists debated this issue. Each has been involved in a major way in the formation of public policy through service on the Presidcat's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). William A. Niskanen, speaking for the amendment, is a member of President Ronald Reagan's Council. He is a founder of the National Tax Limitation Committee. James V. Tobin, Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale and 1981 Nobel Laureate in Economics, who spoke against the amendment, served on President John F. Kennedy's CEA in 1961-1962. Hendrik S. Houthakker, Professor of Economics at Harvard University, who addressed the broader question of balancing the Federal budget, was a member of President Richard M. Nixon's Council from 1969 to 1971. Their remarks, condensed from the talks delivered at the conference, are reproduced here. The opinions expressed are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Tax Foundation, Incorporated. TAX FOUNDATION, INCORPORATED 1875 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009 (202) 328-4500

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most