What Would We Do?
We, like all Americans, are not separate from the participants in the budget war but integral to it, part of the problem. For we are no more agreed on the size and scope of government than are other politically active Americans. But we can suggest a far more productive approach to the deficit dilemma.
We have emphasized throughout this book that a problem cannot be considered separate from its possible solutions. Policy analysis is not just the craft of finding solutions to problems; it is the art of choosing problems
that have solutions. Thinking of policy analysis as the art of the solvable, we come closer to a productive approach to the deficit.
Something should be done, we think, for two reasons. In view of all the uncertainty, first, the nation would do well to limit its risk. Bad times may be in store, as in the past, and a lower deficit would make such times easier to handle. Because many people, including many members of the political stratum, consider deficit reduction vital, they should be placated. How? In part by reducing the deficit and in part by redefining reduction. We would set a target for the deficit that (1) reduced economic risks yet (2) could be reached.