From daemon Mon Jun 12 11:10 EDT 1995 Received: from gateway.senate.gov (gateway.senate.gov [198.22.59.15]) by town.hall.org (8.6.12/941123.08ccg) with SMTP id LAA02199 for ; Mon, 12 Jun 1995 11:06:04 -0400 Received: by gateway.senate.gov (5.65/fma-100391); id AA12848; Mon, 12 Jun 95 11:03:52 -0400 Received: from smtpgwy by mailhost.senate.gov id aa02729; 12 Jun 95 10:52 EDT Received: from cc:Mail by smtpgwy.senate.gov id AA802980531; Mon, 12 Jun 95 11:04:14 EST Date: Mon, 12 Jun 95 11:04:14 EST From: Roy_Fairchild@craig.senate.gov Message-Id: <9505128029.AA802980531@smtpgwy.senate.gov> To: JEC@town.hall.org Return-Receipt-To: Roy_Fairchild@craig.senate.gov Subject: The 21st Century Economy Content-Type: text Content-Length: 2010 Status: RO Questions by Senator Larry Craig on the Economy of the 21st Century June 12, 1995 This is Roy Fairchild in the office of Senator Larry Craig, who is a member of the Joint Economic Committee. Senator Craig is speaking at a conference in Chicago today, but wanted to submit the following questions to the interactive panel before the Committee today: Positive "future waves" of economic change in the 21st Century, such as Dr. Toffler's "de-massification," depend on the government getting out of the way of individual ingenuity and free enterprise. However, as Dr. Johnson's work, especially MODERN TIMES, has shown, government is all-too-tempted to get in the way. Government can stifle innovation and opportunity directly through control and regulation, or indirectly by soaking up available economic resources. 1.) The national debt already is pushing $4.8 trillion and growing. According to the Bipartisan Entitlement Commission, by the year 2030, spending by the federal government will equal about 38 percent of GDP, up from about 22 percent today. The Commission says that trend is "not sustainable." In response, the Republican Congress has committed to balancing the budget by 2002. Are we at a critical "break-point" in our economic history? If we fail to get the growth of government and public debt under control now, might we lose that opportunity forever? If so, what are the 21st-Century consequences? 2.) Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat its mistakes. Looking back at the post-World War II U.S. economy, we see an "inflection point" around 1973. Since then, virtually all measures of economic health have been weaker than before. What happened to dampen the growth path of the U.S. economy starting around 1973 and what should Congress learn from that experience as we look forward to the 21st Century?