· November 15, 2012

Five Proposals for Navigating the Fiscal Cliff

In researching potential solutions to the economic train wreck known as the ‘fiscal cliff,’ IO policy staff have found some resources available through the Peter G. Peterson Foundation to be helpful. We all think so much of the Foundation’s work, we thought you should know about it and look at it for yourself. First, if  you’re still trying to understand just what the whole fiscal cliff thing is about, here it is in a sentence: The fiscal cliff is austerity like none of us have ever seen coupled with everyone’s taxes going up at once; all in the context of a very weak economic recovery. No one in the mainstream wants the fiscal cliff. The coming cuts – the fallout from Congress’ inability to do its job in 2011 – will rake across the board from military contracts to the numbers of kids we’re able to place in Head Start classrooms. Everyone’s taxes would go up. Many economists and market watchers also believe that the double whammy of tax increases with draconian spending cuts would shave from 2 to 4 percent off of GDP. That would put us back in recession. Innovation Ohio is taking a look at the potential consequences of the cliff on Ohio and we’ll be sharing that soon. For now, here is some bipartisan material from the Peterson Foundation:

1. The first thing to know is that today, Friday, November 16, the foundation is hosting an event in Washington, D.C. Check their website for information about the live webcast of the program, Top Minds on Fiscal Cliff Solutions.
2. Another thing to know is that the foundation is bipartisan. In fact, it’s mission statement reads like how you wish Congress acted.
3. Last year, the foundation began a project (The Solutions Initiative) that brought together policy experts from various think tanks that represent the spectrum from right to left to work on plans that would put the U.S. on firm financial footing through the year 2035. This year, they chose five of those organizations, the American Action Forum, the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Center for American Progress, the Economic Policy Institute and The Heritage Foundation to focus more narrowly on the shorter term issue of the fiscal cliff. Full disclosure – Innovation Ohio has worked with and continues to work with the Center for American Progress.
4. The Goods: An overview of the Solutions Initiative
5. The Goods II: An overview of the five plans for the shorter term fiscal cliff (Solutions Initiative II)