It's true: Deficit reduction isn't an economic panacea. It won't instantly boost the economy or the stock market. It won't automatically end financial turmoil. But none of this means that we should ignore deficits. Allowing the government's debt to spiral upward tempts a full-blown future financial crisis.
The recent White House-congressional debt deal created a 12-member congressional super-committee charged with finding $1.5 trillion of savings over a decade. This compares with some projections of cumulative deficits of $10 trillion or more through 2021. Let's engage in a fantasy. Suppose the committee doesn't deadlock and decides to find a bigger solution. What to do?
Here's a 10-step program to fix America's budget problem.