Time for a U.S. Government Yard Sale

Instead of cutting spending or raising taxes in the midst of a recession, the government should consider raising revenue by selling some of its assets.

My latest column for CNN.com argues that instead of cutting spending or raising taxes in the midst of a recession, the government should consider raising revenue by selling some of its assets.

Some say that the United States is incurring too much debt, more than $1 trillion in the past fiscal year.

Others say that the worst recession since World War II is no time to cut spending or raise taxes.

They're both right.

Happily, there is a third way to slow the growth of debt without curtailing federal economic stimulus: sell assets.

Imagine a family that has lost a job at the same time as its children are in college. The family could yank the children from college to save money. But if it owned a second home, it would make more sense to liquidate that before stinting on the children's education.

And the United States sure owns a lot of second homes.

There's the Tennessee Valley Authority, for example: Created during the Depression to help develop the impoverished Southeast, TVA today owns and operates 29 hydroelectric dams and six nuclear reactors, along with coal plants, wind farms and other power sources. In fiscal year 2009, the authority reported operating revenues of $11.3 billion and operating expenses of $9.3 billion.

There are public lands: The United States is the largest landowner in much of the Far West.

And there are assets easier to quantify:

-- More than half a trillion in securities: student loans, federally backed mortgage securities, etc. It might be hard to find a buyer for them right now, but as the economy recovers, they could be liquidated rapidly.

-- More than a quarter trillion in gold.

-- A quarter trillion in TARP assets.

-- $35 billion of oil in the strategic petroleum reserve.

-- Non-TVA public dams such as Hoover and Bonneville.

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