Fiscal Responsibility

Carl Tannenbaum - Page 3

As perhaps people should think about in their personal lives as well? "Absolutely. We look at personal debt a lot and this is the other trend we will have to watch. As far as I can see, in aggregate - and sometimes they say an economist is someone who says the temperature is fine in aggregate if their head is in the freezer and their feet are in the fire," Carl laughs, adding, "So take this with a grain of salt. In aggregate, the balance sheet of the average American household is in great shape because homes have appreciated tremendously and while you hear the horror stories, most people have managed their debt very, very well. Not just the level but also the cost because who has not refinanced their mortgage to a very low rate in the last ten years? People are very astute now about lowering the cost of borrowing and as a result, the level of defaults or delinquencies at most levels are still very, very, low. Now, if you look beneath the surface, it's easy to see that there are families who have probably stretched themselves a little thin and left themselves vulnerable to something like a job loss or health emergency. So that community of people we need to be very careful with, as they could represent something that is a threat to the economy. It's never a good thing to have households defaulting."

Economics as well as food come into play as Carl discusses the nation's immigration situation. "Immigration is an economic issue as much as a social issue. We have a big community of baby boomers that are going to be approaching retirement age. In order to make up for those retirements, we are going to need new entrants to the labor force. Because the generation of Americans that have followed them is much smaller, the need for new talent is going to be important. Countries that are very closed to immigration, and Japan would be the leading example, are actually losing their economic vitality because their population is aging, collectively, very quickly and there's nobody to fill in because they have low birthrates as well." Carl thinks one of America's strengths economically has been its openness to immigration and its ability to successfully assimilate immigrants. "Some people have pointed out that undocumenteds, in particular, may have detrimental impacts on the economy because they tax social services. I think you have to be a little careful about that as well. The common notion is that these folks are not paying taxes when in fact they are paying taxes, sales taxes in particular because they spend a huge fraction of what they make. Sales taxes in most communities are forwarded to pay for hospitalization, schools, and some of the services they might be using."

"My diagnosis is we absolutely need a more balanced view on immigration from an economic standpoint," Carl continues, "because over the long run it is not only acceptable but desirable. It's not just day laborers by the way. We have a serious shortage of engineers in this country and the restrictions on immigration, largely put into place after 9/11, are really holding down our access to talent." Looking back at history Carl adds, "I think we have to remember that we've been wrong before about the evils of immigration and we may be wrong again. Outside of the economic aspects, one of the things I think is neat about living in America is that we do have a variety of different types of people with different arts, different languages, different manners and different food. The melting pot that is represented by the array of different cuisines that we have in the United States is one of the things that made this a great country—a great food country. If you love food, you just have to love the fact that we are poly-cultural and you definitely want to encourage that to continue."

Carl does love food. Not just eating food but all that surrounds it. "For the longest time I've always thought that it's a very personal statement that you enjoy someone else's company when you cook a meal for them," says Carl. "I feel cooking is a life skill. As we move through life, cooking at home allows you to eat well in a healthy way, control the ingredients, and also have something that can be the foundation for time shared with family and friends."

Recipes >>

Article:
Harry Zeeve: Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3
David Walker: Page 1 - Page 2
Alison Acosta Fraser: Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3
Belle Sawhill: Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3
Chris Swann: Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3
Carl Tannenbaum: Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3

vol3 issue2, 2008

Fiscal Responsibility

Carl Tannenbaum - Page 3