Nearly two decades ago, David Walker went on tour across the United States. Not as a rock star or a travelling preacher, though he did have a sermon to spread. Instead, Mr. Walker was the country’s chief bean-counter, and his message for his fellow Americans was grim: The U.S. was suffering from “a fiscal cancer,” the then comptroller-general told the public on what he called his Fiscal Wakeup Tour. Spiralling deficits and debt would have “catastrophic consequences” if left untreated.
His pleas were ignored.
