In the years ahead, we’ll see No Good Options governance become ubiquitous in the West as aging populations collide with unrealistic expectations of how low taxes can be and how high publicly funded benefits can soar. Toss in the rage of a rising generation that realizes it has little discretion to address its own needs via government — and which is simultaneously asked to pick up the tab for its elders’ excesses — and you’ll have a toxic political brew.
For politicians, No Good Options governance won’t be much fun. Fun was what American fiscal politics was in the 1960s and 1970s, when rapid economic growth plus tax bracket creep (through which people were pushed into higher brackets as their incomes rose) created huge piles of revenue for pols to give away. What bipartisan joy there was in competing to see who could lift Social Security benefits more before the next election. Those were the days!
Soon, however, a hefty chunk of political life will be about apportioning sacrifice. Ask Papandreou in a few months how that’s working for him.
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