For a newly elected Democrat, it was an unusual way to make your mark. Ben McAdams, the Democratic representative from Utah, this month introduced an amendment that would make it unconstitutional in normal circumstances for the American government to fail to balance its books.

The proposal, which he says prompted a fierce backlash from within his own party, reflects a fear that both fellow Democrats and Republicans are giving up on any attempt to  curb the budget deficit. “Politicians are like water — they will take the course of least resistance,” says the 44-year-old congressman, an ex-mayor of Salt Lake County. “In our case the course of least resistance is deficit spending.”

Fiscal conservatism may once have had deep roots within both the Republican and Democratic parties, but today it appears critically endangered. The Congressional Budget Office’s latest outlook suggests deficits are projected to average 4.4 per cent of gross domestic product in 2020-29, far above the average set over the past 50 years of 2.9 per cent of GDP. That will ensure public debt as a share of GDP rises steadily to eventually exceed records set immediately after the second world war.