The idea of an independent fiscal authority deserves serious consideration.

ECONOMIST: Fiscal flexibility | The

One is greater fiscal integration, including a joint fiscal authority, the issuing of common bonds, and the ability to make fiscal transfers to regions hit disproportionately hard by recession.

FORBES: To Save the Euro, Establish Dual Currencies

But the Treasury itself is constrained by the debt ceiling set by Congress, and an independent central bank should not rely on the fiscal authority for one of its tools.

ECONOMIST: Central banks' exit strategies

The independent fiscal authority would then be given discretion to increase or reduce income-tax rates across the board within a narrow band of, say, a percentage point either side of existing rates.

ECONOMIST: Fiscal flexibility | The

Instead, Mr Soros has advocated the creation of a European Fiscal Authority (EFA) to oversee the bailout funds and make key economic decisions for all eurozone governments to establish "a level playing field".

BBC: Soros calls for Germany to 'lead or leave euro'

The Greek crisis only confirms the folly of binding a group of disparate countries together in a currency zone with no mechanism, such as a central fiscal authority, to address its internal imbalances.

ECONOMIST: Greece's sovereign-debt crunch

Thus, the apparent need some felt to find a prestigious academic authority supporting fiscal reform.

FORBES: That Reinhart and Rogoff Committed a Spreadsheet Error Completely Misses the Point

Last summer, as America's government came perilously close to exhausting its legal authority to borrow, Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress could not resolve their fiscal differences.

ECONOMIST: The cloud of uncertainty