VOA标准英语2011--US Congress Gets Conflicting Advice on E

US Congress Gets Conflicting Advice on Economy, Debt

For U.S. lawmakers, no issue is more pressing or contentious 1 than how to revive an ailing 2 American economy while confronting a $14.7 trillion national debt. Complicating 3 this monumental task is a sharp divergence 4 of views and recommendations from economists 6 and budget officials on the causes and best solutions for the nation's financial woes 7.

Recent weeks have seen a parade of America's most-renowned economists and other experts testifying at dozens of hearings on Capitol Hill examining U.S. fiscal 8 and financial matters from every possible angle.

If lawmakers were hoping for consensus 9 from the nation's intelligentsia on how best to navigate 10 perilous 11 economic waters threatening to sink America's financial ship, they have surely been disappointed. Just as members of Congress passionately 12 disagree on what ails 13 the nation and what will cure it, so too do academics and officials who have dedicated 14 their careers to studying such matters.

Consider the question of what, if anything, the U.S. government should do to promote economic growth and job creation. Economists of all stripes agree that an expanding economy will put Americans back to work and reduce budget deficits 16. But how to achieve that goal is a matter of intense debate.

Alice Rivlin, who served as a budget official during the Clinton administration and co-chaired President Barack Obama's deficit 15 commission, urged lawmakers to embrace an active government role to get the economy moving.

"Unless employment accelerates sufficiently 17, we are doomed 18 to stagnation 19 and eroding 20 standards of living," said Rivlin. "The faster we get people back to work, the easier it will be to move toward a sustainable federal budget. If the recovery stalls and unemployment rises again, prospects 21 for stabilizing 22 the debt will deteriorate 23 rapidly. It will be worth some temporary increase in the near-term deficit to avoid getting into another downward spiral of falling jobs, sales, investment, and confidence."

Her words were music to the ears of Democratic lawmakers, like Maryland Congressman 24 Elijah Cummings, who, like the president, wants Congress to approve a short-term federal jobs program.

"The debt is a nominal 25 factor in our current economic outlook," said Cummings. "Rather, slowed hiring, low consumer confidence and demand, reduced public investment, and the continuing [real estate] foreclosure crisis are driving our economic conditions and our rising debt, rather than the other way around."

Not so, according to another economist 5 who testified on Capitol Hill this week. J.D. Foster, a budget official under former President George W. Bush, argued the U.S. economy would soar on its own if only a burdensome federal government would let it.

"The economy abounds 26 in opportunities for growth," said Foster. "But turning potential into reality requires confidence: confidence in the future, confidence in the specific effects of government policy. America suffers a confidence shortage, and Washington is overwhelmingly the cause."

Picking up on that theme was Carnegie Mellon University economist Allan Meltzer, who took aim at the Obama administration's call for higher taxes on the wealthy and some corporations.

"Uncertainty 27 about future tax rates has deterred 28 investment and slowed recovery," said Meltzer.

According to economists like Meltzer, a federal jobs program is ill-advised, as it adds to short-term deficits, raises the debt burden, and increases the likelihood of future tax increases to avoid a fiscal meltdown. Thus, the path to unlocking investment and economic expansion is maintaining current tax rates and cutting federal spending.

That view is trumpeted 29 by Republicans, like Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama.

"The debt level today already costs us growth and jobs," noted 30 Sessions. "America's private sector 31 is just waiting to grow and expand, but unwise government policy continues to stand in the way."

However, Alice Rivlin told lawmakers the real cause of America's economic doldrums is not a lack of confidence, but a nation that has stopped spending.

"Lack of demand is the basic problem," added Rivlin. "If you do not think you can sell your product, you are not going to make more of it."

Public policy groups, like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, say, whatever policies or programs Washington adopts, lawmakers need to keep an eye on the main prize: stabilizing and ultimately reducing a national debt that has grown to the size of America's entire yearly economic output.

On that score, no one in Congress disagrees. But getting there when 14 million Americans are out of work and economic growth has slowed to a crawl is no easy task for lawmakers, or the experts who advise them.