America's $15-trillion public debt can only be addressed via an immediate, bipartisan and comprehensive response, former United States Comptroller General David Walker said to a packed Filene Auditorium on Monday.
Walker, a registered independent who served as Comptroller General from 1998 to 2008, described the past 11 years as "the most irresponsible in the history of the United States."
In order to solve the debt problem, the government must re-impose budget controls, reduce defense and social welfare spending, raise revenues and fix a broken political system, Walker said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
"It is critically important that people be informed and involved to ensure that our elected officials start making the tough choices necessary to put our finances in order before we face a debt crisis," Walker said.
Introducing open primaries and empowering non-partisan commissions, rather than elected officials, to deal with redistricting, could help address the public debt and political faults, Walker said. "A vast majority of our elected officials are career politicians, and that's not conducive toward making tough choices," he said. "I think the greater problem is the ideological divide. We have a legislature that is not representative of the republic and not responsive to the republic."
The Comeback America Initiative, of which Walker is a founder and CEO, recently released a "Fiscal IQ Quiz" a set of 30 questions that assess a participant's knowledge of economic issues and gauges ideological beliefs.
"The survey was the first step in what I hope is a much greater effort to educate the American public on the tough decisions we will have to make," Walker said.
Since the quiz's release in early December, 30000 people have participated, representing 50 states and 80 countries. After minors, "elected officials" comprise the lowest scoring subgroup, according to Walker.
"The biggest deficit we have today is a leadership deficit, but we are responsible and accountable for what does or does not happen," Walker said.
The country should enact cuts in military spending without compromising America's national security, according to Walker. Budget controls that were in place from 1992 to 2003 should also be re-implemented in a way that "doesn't undercut the economic recovery," he said.
In order to highlight a lack of political progress, Walker referenced the 1992 presidential campaign of Ross Perot, who ran on a platform the would have caused fiscal irresponsibility, a lack of political functionality, reduced trust in government and reduced confidence in the future, according to Walker.
"If you look at independent statistics, we're much worse in those four categories today," Walker said.
However, Walker said he still believes current political and economic problems can be fixed.
"We've faced tough choices in the past, and we tend to rise to the occasion," Walker said. "What's critical is that we do it before we face a crisis. We just need to get started soon."
Economics professor Marjorie Rose who organized Walker's visit in conjunction with Sadhana Hall, deputy director of the Rockefeller Center said the debt problem marks "one of the most important issues of this generation."
Walker's lecture, "America at a Crossroads: The Fiscal Challenges and a Way Forward," had the potential to influence voters on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, Rose said.
Potential improvements to economic and political systems are significant topics on both local and national levels, especially in the context of an upcoming election, Maggie Nelson '15 said.
Rose, a former International Monetary Fund employee, said students must be invested in the current state of the economy because "their generation is going to have to service the debt and face the consequences."
The talk was sponsored by the Rockefeller Center.
