News release: “A new joint report from the National Research Council and the National Academy of Public Administration, Choosing the Nation’s Fiscal Future, offers U.S. leaders ways to address the nation’s fiscal problems and confront its rapidly growing debt — a burden that if unchecked will inevitably limit the nation’s future wealth and risk a disruptive fiscal crisis that could lead to a severe recession. The report offers tax and spending options that would stabilize the debt relative to the size of the economy within a decade. The report also provides a set of simple tests to determine whether any proposed federal budget would lead to long-term fiscal stability. Delaying action for even five or 10 years will make addressing the problem more painful and costly, requiring even higher taxes or greater spending cuts, the report notes. Delay also raises the risk that the nation’s creditors – especially foreign governments – will conclude that the U.S. has no plan to restore fiscal stability and will require higher interest rates or make other economic demands.”