History Lesson

Menzie Chinn with a history lesson on Econbrowser.  The lesson isn't fantastic, but the post has a quote from Chinn and Jeffry Frieden's book that I like.

[T]rue fiscal responsibility involves a willingness to raise sufficient tax revenue, over the longer term, to pay for the programs the government implements. Fiscal responsibility should not be equated with a small government, but rather with a commitment to pay for the government services provided. ...

... If the nation affirms that enhancing national defense and improving health care for the poor are legitimate goals, fiscal responsibility entails raising the revenue to fund these programs, rather than borrowing for them. (Chinn and Frieden, 2011, pp. 202-03.)

Though, I will add that I don't see a little borrowing as a problem; need some flexibility with funding items.  I do agree that fiscal hawks need to actually think about what "raising revenues" actually entails when they complain about deficit spending.