"Arms, Revenue, and Entitlements: U.S. Deficits in the Cold War, 1945-1991 explores how defense, tax, and entitlement policies caused the U.S. government to become deficit normative during the Cold War era, arguing that only a comprehensive program can rein in deficits in the twenty-first century."

We use a controlled laboratory experiment with and without overlapping generations to study the emergence of public debt. Public debt is chosen by popular vote, pays for public goods, and is repaid with general taxes. With a single generation, public debt is accumulated prudently, never leading...