[Editor's note: this piece was co-authored by David Biddulph]

If current fiscal trends continue, the greatest threat to American prosperity won’t come from abroad; rather, it will come from Washington’s inability to control its own spending. For decades, federal outlays have grown faster than the incomes of the people who fund them. The result is a debt trajectory that compounds silently but relentlessly, shifting the burden of today’s decisions onto future generations. This is not just unsustainable, it is unjust.

Economists have long understood the solution. When government spending grows no faster than inflation plus population, the economy has room to expand faster than the state. Over time, that gap compounds into extraordinary gains for citizens. In fact, long-term models of such fiscal discipline show that real income per person can quadruple over 75 years, not by cutting spending outright, but by slowing its growth relative to the private economy.

The problem isn’t the idea, it’s the incentives. Congress has shown little ability, or willingness, to impose binding limits on itself. The recent failure of the House to advance a balanced budget amendment underscores the point. As Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington noted, the nation faces an “unsustainable debt trajectory.” Yet........

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