The law creating the sequester (the Budget Control Act of 2011) lowers statutory caps on the spending authority of federal agencies.

FORBES: Sequester, We Hardly Knew Ye

But a statutory debt limit is a poor substitute for a constitutional balanced budget amendment.

FORBES: Republicans must mark their budget territory

Although poorer countries still limit themselves to ad hoc welfare offerings, fitting the spending level to revenues one budget at a time, there is an increasing trend towards entitlements served by statutory institutions that will outlive the budgetary cycle.

ECONOMIST: Asian welfare states