Erskine Bowles: 'We Are Going Over the Fiscal Cliff' Three of the country's most prominent minds on U.S. budgetary problems issued a stark warning to lawmakers today as Congress approaches what many have called a "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and spending cuts that are set to take effect Jan. 1. ... "I think that if we don't get these politicians to come together we face the most predictable economic crisis in history," Bowles said during this morning's interview in Sun Valley, Idaho. "I think it's absolutely clear that the fiscal path we are on is not sustainable, and for me, the best analogy is these deficits are like a cancer, and over time they will destroy the country from within."