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USA 2.0

Eagle Policy Initiative
50 Sections (44 ready)

Data Visualizations

Interactive charts & analysis

  • Vision & Values

    • The Call to Action

    • Lightcone Philosophy

    • Why USA 2.0?

    • Back to First Principles

  • The GRIN Framework

    • Introduction to GRIN

    • Generativity (G)

    • Resilience (R)

    • Evil as Parametric State

    • Ethics as Conservation Laws

  • GRIN in Action

    • How to Use GRIN Analysis

    • GRIN Analysis: Trump II Administration

    • Historical GRIN Patterns

    • GRIN vs. Hofstede: Two Lenses on Society

    • GRIN FAQ: 10 Hot-Button Issues

    • AI Personhood: The Hard Question

  • Declaration 2.0

    • Preamble

    • Self-Evident Truths 2.0

    • Modern Grievances

    • Rights of All Beings

    • Responsibilities

    • The Social Contract 2.0

    • The Declaration

  • Constitutional Framework

    • The Founding Documents

    • Executive Branch 2.0

    • Legislative Branch 2.0

    • Judicial Branch 2.0

    • Federalism 2.0

    • Amendment Process 2.0

    • Reader's Guide to the Errata

  • Policy Essays

    • The 70% Pay Cut

    • Housing: Back to 1.7 Years

    • Education: Back to 1970 Prices

    • Healthcare: The Hybrid Model

    • Social Security: Cut Taxes in Half

    • Citizen Equity Trust

    • Clean Capitalism

    • The Wealth Tax Floor

    • The Safety Bonus

    • Fiscal Discipline

    • Foreign Policy

    • Corruption & Reform

    • Climate & Environment

    • AI & Technology Rights

  • The Platform

    • Core Positions

    • Eagle Party Principles

    • How We Differ

  • Data & Analysis

    • Coming Soon

  • Take Action

    • Join the Movement

    • Contribute Ideas

    • Resources

By Erik Bethke
Policy Essays

Fiscal Discipline

2 min read
ready

Debt Rules That Actually Work

Sensible use of national debt: fund infrastructure, fund during black swans. But we've tapped it too hard.

The Golden Rule (Hard Law)

Borrow only for assets with measurable yield: infrastructure, grids, ports, water, R&D platforms. No borrowing for operations/transfers outside declared recessions or disasters.

Debt Brakes & Stabilizers (Automatic)

  • Debt/GDP glidepath rule: Set a declining band (-0.5 pp/yr outside recessions). Miss it → automatic reserve kicks in.
  • Interest/Revenue cap: Net interest ≤12% of federal receipts. Breach triggers auto-reserve.
  • Countercyclical carve-out: In NBER recession or declared black swan, caps relax only for 4-8 quarters; roll off automatically.

Capital Budget + ROI Discipline

  • Federal capital budget distinct from OpEx
  • Every capital project publishes 5/10/20-yr ROI
  • Miss targets → automatic clawback and future scoring penalty

Monetary Policy: Keep the Fed Boring

  • Independence codified: No presidential rate-setting; FOMC votes published next day
  • No fiscal dominance: QE/QT only for market function in crisis; no routine debt monetization
  • Term-out issuance: More 20s/30s to reduce rollover risk
  • Plumbing > politics: Standing repo sized for liquidity, not backdoor QE

Kill the Leakage (Rent Chokepoints)

  • Ban open-market buybacks
  • Public-corp tax = 0%, private-corp tax = top personal rate
  • Wealth-tax floor funds CET + cushions debt
  • Procurement reform: fixed-fee + open-book; blacklist chronic change-order abuse

Program Sunsets & PAYGO+

  • All new entitlements sunset in 10 years unless re-authorized with KPIs
  • PAYGO tightened: offsets must be same-category, no off-budget gimmicks

What This Achieves

  • Max free-market dynamics: Capital goes to growth or straight to owners
  • Min rent-seeking: Starve the moats that push households into debt
  • Debt that matters only: Long-life assets, crisis buffers - automatically reversed when skies clear
  • A boring Fed: Deep markets, low drama, zero presidential rate cosplay

25-Year Outcome

  • Debt/GDP: 55-65% and gently declining
  • Net interest: ≤10% of receipts
  • Social Security: 75-year solvency "boringly green"
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