The National Debt, the Ghost of Christmas Past

the AZEL PERSPECTIVE Commentary on Cuba's Future, U.S. Foreign Policy & Individual Freedoms - Issue 372 B

José Azel's latest books "On Freedom" and "Sobre La Libertad" are now available on Amazon.  The National Debt, the Ghost of Christmas Past (Previously published) Share Tweet Forward

Economist Thomas Sowell called the U.S. national debt the Ghost of Christmas Past. This is a wonderfully appropriate allegorical use of Charles Dickens’ character to help us focus on the evils of a debt that will haunt Americans for generations to come. Unfortunately, Congress has yet to acknowledge the necessity of changing its spending ways. The gifts we have given ourselves in Christmas past will have to be paid by future generations. As columnist George Will puts it, “This is a form of expropriation—taxation without representation of the unborn.”  Once upon a time, taxation without representation was a main cause of the American Revolution. Today, if Congress were to act responsibly reducing expenditures and increasing taxes to balance the budget, it would face the same strident opposition as the British Empire did in 1776. Yet, taxing the unborn is a cowardly solution to budgetary issues; the unborn cannot organize in protest. This is the evil genius of deficit spending.  Currently, the U.S. deficit is growing at a rate of over 27 percent yearly, and the accumulated federal debt has reached an incomprehensible amount of $22 trillion. Economists like to analyze the national debt of a country as a percentage of the country’s output or Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Congressional Budget Office estimates that, in less than a decade, this U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio will exceed 100 percent.  One possible approach relies on some form of balanced-budget constitutional amendment prohibiting the government from spending more than its income. Balanced-budget amendments typically make an exception for times of war or other national emergencies and allow Congress to suspend the amendment by supermajority vote. While balanced-budget amendments have been adopted by most state governments, all efforts have failed at the national level.  Other approaches, such as the “debt brake” adopted by Germany and Austria, require the government to reduce its debt-to-GDP ratio by a given date. Other countries have adopted similar caps on the public debt. For example, in Spain and Poland, the governments cannot take on any financial obligations that would cause the debt to exceed 60 percent of GDP.  With or without such rules, Congress has a responsibility to spend and tax prudently and wisely. This is simply not happening in the United States. The inaction of Congress leads me, reluctantly, to reach out for this quote from the influential German political theorist Carl Schmitt, who was a prominent anti-Semite member of the Nazi Party: “Faced with the question Christ or Barabbas, parliament adjourns or appoints a committee to investigate the question.”  In the 1920s, while a professor at the University of Greifswald, Schmitt published an essay titled On Dictatorship, where he sought to remove the taboos, as he saw it, of the concept of dictatorship. He praised dictatorial powers as superior to the slow and ineffective process of legislative power reached through parliamentary discussion and compromise.  For Schmitt, a government capable of decisive action must include a dictatorial element. His theories have enabled the intellectual framework for authoritarian states with a free-market system that have found wide applications in China, in Pinochet’s Chile, and elsewhere.  My point is this: Congress’ failure to curb the national debt gives intellectual authority to critics of democratic governance and extends credence to supporters of dictatorial powers like Carl Schmitt. Present-day enthusiasts of Schmitt’s ideology see the office of the president as empowered to declare a “state of exception” (Schmitt’s terminology) to invoke dictatorial powers. According to this thinking, if democracy is the expression of the general will, that general will can be best expressed by the decisive action of a wise dictator.  The U.S. National debt is, indeed, the Ghost of Christmas Past. Its economic evils will haunt Americans for generations to come. But the most tragic evils of an unchecked national debt are not economic, but political; for example, the political disenfranchisement of future generations that have been taxed without representation. And, if Congress remains incapable of curbing the national debt, they are inviting a Carl Schmitt think-alike to take decisive dictatorial action ostensibly on “behalf” of unborn voters.  Please let us know if you  this article. We welcome your feedback. Abrazos,  Lily & José  (click on the name to email Lily or Jose) José Azel, Ph.D. José Azel left Cuba in 1961 as a 13 year-old political exile in what has been dubbed Operation Pedro Pan - the largest unaccompanied child refugee movement in the history of the Western Hemisphere.   He is currently dedicated to the in-depth analyses of Cuba's economic, social and political state, with a keen interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies. Dr. Azel was a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami, Jose Azel has published extensively on Cuba related topics. In 2012 and 2015, Dr. Azel testified in the U.S. Congress on U.S.-Cuba Policy, and U.S. National Security.  He is a frequent speaker and commentator on these and related topics on local, national and international media.  He holds undergraduate and masters degrees in business administration and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the University of Miami. José along with his wife Lily are avid skiers and adventure travelers.  In recent years they have climbed Grand Teton in Wyoming, trekked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Machu Pichu in Peru.  They have also hiked in Tibet and in the Himalayas to Mt. Everest Base Camp. They cycled St. James Way (El Camino de Santiago de Compostela) and cycled alongside the Danube from Germany to Hungary and throughout southern France.  They have scuba dived in the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast and in the Galapagos Islands. Most recently, they rafted for 17 days 220 miles in the Grand Canyon.  Their adventurers are normally dedicated to raise funds for causes that are dear to them.  Watch Joe & Lily summit Kilimanjaro. Books by Dr. José Azel José Azel’s writings are touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone who wishes to understand why countries do, or do not, progress will find in this book the best explanations. And, from these readings emerge numerous inferences: How and why do the good intentions of leftist collectivism lead countries to hell? Why is liberty not a sub product of prosperity, but rather one of its causes? If it was in my power, this work would be required reading for all college and university students, and I would also recommend its reading to all politicians, journalists, and policymakers. With his writings Azel accomplishes what was achieved in France by Frédéric Bastiat, and in the United States by Henry Hazlitt: Azel brings together common sense with intelligent observation, and academic substance. Stupendous, Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                                    BUY NOW Los escritos de José Azel están tocados por la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquiera que desee entender por qué los países progresan, o no, encontrará en este libro las mejores explicaciones. De estas lecturas surgen numerosas inferencias: ¿Cómo y por qué las buenas intenciones del colectivismo de izquierda llevan a los países al infierno? ¿Por qué la libertad no es un subproducto de la prosperidad, sino una de sus causas? Si estuviera en mis manos, esta obra sería de obligada lectura de todos los estudiantes universitarios, pero además, le recomendaría su lectura a todos los políticos, periodistas y policy makers. Con sus escritos Azel logra lo que Frédéric Bastiat consiguiera en Francia y Henry Hazlitt en Estados Unidos: aunar el sentido común, la observación inteligente y la enjundia académica. Estupendo. Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                            Compre Aqui "Liberty for beginners is much more than what the title promises. It is eighty themes touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone that wishes to understand why countries do, or do not progress, will find in this book the best explanations. Stupendous" Carlos Alberto Montaner Buy Now "Libertad para novatos es mucho más de lo que promete el título. Son ochenta temas tocados con la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquier adulto que desee saber por qué progresan o se estancan los pueblos aquí encontrará las mejores explicaciones. Estupendo." Carlos Alberto Montaner Compre Aqui In Reflections on Freedom, José Azel brings together a collection of his columns published in prestigious newspapers.  Each article reveals his heartfelt and personal awareness of the importance of freedom in our lives.  They are his reflections after nearly sixty years of living and learning as a Cuban outside Cuba. In what has become his stylistic trademark, Professor Azel brilliantly introduces complex topics in brief journalistic articles. Buy Now En Reflexiones sobre la libertad José Azel reúne una colección de sus columnas publicadas en prestigiosos periódicos. Cada artículo revela su percepción sincera y personal de la importancia de la libertad en nuestras vidas. Son sus reflexiones después de casi sesenta años viviendo y aprendiendo como cubano fuera de Cuba.  En lo que ha resultado ser característica distintiva de sus artículos, el Profesor Azel introduce con brillantez complejos temas en  breves artículos de carácter periodístico. Compre Aqui Mañana in Cuba is a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Cuba with an incisive perspective of the Cuban frame of mind and its relevancy for Cuba's future. Buy now Pedazos y Vacíos is a collection of poems written in by Dr. Azel in his youth. Poems are in Spanish. Buy now