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Text size About the author: Leslie Lipschitz is former director of the IMF Institute, has taught at Johns Hopkins University and Bowdoin College, been a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution, and an advisor at Investec Asset Management. House Republicans recently passed a bill that subjects the raising of the federal debt ceiling to numerous conditions, especially a large reduction in federal spending. Those politicians are appealing to genuine voter disquiet about the economy and the seemingly inexorable rise in government debt. It’s important to understand the political foundation of this fiscal indiscipline, because, however the debt-ceiling issue is resolved,...
