Bringing the federal debt under control will mean making tough choices, such as cutting popular programs or raising taxes. But people will only be willing to make such hard choices if they trust their leaders to act responsibly, so that their sacrifices are not wasted. To help you think through the best way to do this, we describe several different approaches:

• Limit Their Choices: Put Systems in Place that Make it Harder for the Government to Spend Recklessly

• Increase Transparency: Make it Easier to See What’s Going on so Government Watchdogs Can Do Their Job

• Remove Temptation: Change Behavior by Changing Incentives

Through your deliberations on these choices, it will be helpful to keep several questions in mind.

• Which of these approaches would do the best job creating more responsible management of the nation’s finances? Why?

• Are there other measures that we should be considering, besides those covered in these choices?

• What do your deliberations suggest that you and your fellow citizens can do to improve the situation?