[link|http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/26/opinion/26kristof.html|A Glide Path to Ruin]

..."I think the greatest threat to our future is our fiscal irresponsibility," warns David Walker, the comptroller general of the United States. Mr. Walker, an accountant by training, asserts that last year may have been the most fiscally reckless in the history of our Republic.
...
Mr. Walker, America's watchdog in chief and head of the Government Accountability Office, is no Bush-basher. He started out his career as a conservative Democrat, then became a moderate Republican and has been an independent since 1997.
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I asked Mr. Walker about Paul Volcker's warning that within five years we face a 75 percent chance of a serious financial crisis.

"If we don't get serious soon," Mr. Walker replied, "it's not a question of whether it'll come, but when and how serious."

Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel-winning economist, says he is also "very worried."

"I find it very difficult to know how to put a number" on the probability of a crisis, he added, "but there's a widespread sense in the market that there is a substantial chance."


The question is can anything realistically be done to stop it? It is pretty clear that Bush doesn't care about this issue, and therefore the President will do nothing about it for the rest of this term (another 3.5 years). In any case he will be a lame duck soon and since Cheney is not interested in running for President, the VP won't be pushing that hard either.