2 notes

2. Propose Specific Fiscal Targets.

Promises to “reduce the deficit” are important, but reassuring markets will require presenting a roadmap of how to do so. The first step in this is coming up with a set of goals – specific fiscal targets which a candidate plans to achieve. The target might include reaching a specific debt-to-GDP level, reducing the deficit by a certain amount, hitting a specific deficit target (for example, a balanced budget by a certain date), or specific revenue and spending levels. Targets should be comprehensible to the public, translatable into specific policy recommendations, and accountable against actual results.

Putting forth such targets can help to focus the public’s and the political system’s attention on the issue while bringing credibility and transparency to the often empty calls for fiscal responsibility on the campaign trail.A specific fiscal target can become a rallying cry to help gain public and political support for beginning the difficult process of getting on the path to fiscal sustainability.