Original source URL: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/80fa0a2c-49ef-11dc-9ffe-0000779fd2ac.html Learn from the fall of Rome, US warned By Jeremy Grant in Washington Published: August 14 2007 00:06 | Last updated: August 14 2007 00:06 The US government is on a Œburning platform¹ of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the country¹s top government inspector has warned. David Walker, comptroller general of the US, issued the unusually downbeat assessment of his country¹s future in a report that lays out what he called ³chilling long-term simulations². These include ³dramatic² tax rises, slashed government services and the large-scale dumping by foreign governments of holdings of US debt. Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned there were ³striking similarities² between America¹s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including ³declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government². ³Sound familiar?² Mr Walker said. ³In my view, it¹s time to learn from history and take steps to ensure the American Republic is the first to stand the test of time.² Mr Walker¹s views carry weight because he is a non-partisan figure in charge of the Government Accountability Office, often described as the investigative arm of the US Congress. While most of its studies are commissioned by legislators, about 10 per cent such as the one containing his latest warnings are initiated by the comptroller general himself. In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Walker said he had mentioned some of the issues before but now wanted to ³turn up the volume². Some of them were too sensitive for others in government to ³have their name associated with². ³I¹m trying to sound an alarm and issue a wake-up call,² he said. ³As comptroller general I¹ve got an ability to look longer-range and take on issues that others may be hesitant, and in many cases may not be in a position, to take on. ³One of the concerns is obviously we are a great country but we face major sustainability challenges that we are not taking seriously enough,² said Mr Walker, who was appointed during the Clinton administration to the post, which carries a 15-year term. The fiscal imbalance meant the US was ³on a path toward an explosion of debt². ³With the looming retirement of baby boomers, spiralling healthcare costs, plummeting savings rates and increasing reliance on foreign lenders, we face unprecedented fiscal risks,² said Mr Walker, a former senior executive at PwC auditing firm. Current US policy on education, energy, the environment, immigration and Iraq also was on an ³unsustainable path². ³Our very prosperity is placing greater demands on our physical infrastructure. Billions of dollars will be needed to modernise everything from highways and airports to water and sewage systems. The recent bridge collapse in Minneapolis was a sobering wake-up call.² Mr Walker said he would offer to brief the would-be presidential candidates next spring. ³They need to make fiscal responsibility and inter-generational equity one of their top priorities. If they do, I think we have a chance to turn this around but if they don¹t, I think the risk of a serious crisis rises considerably². Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007 -- -------------------------------------------------------- Posting archives: http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?lists=newslog http://groups.google.com/group/newslog/topics Escaping the Matrix website: http://escapingthematrix.org/ cyberjournal website: http://cyberjournal.org Achieving a Global Democratic Society: http://rkmvids.blogspot.com/2007/07/what-is-democracy.html Community Democracy Framework: http://cyberjournal.org/DemocracyFramework.html Moderator: •••@••.••• (comments welcome)
