When Al Gore, the former US vice-president, starred in the documentary An Inconvenient Truth back in 2006, it had a big impact on the green debate. Never mind the fact that most of the documentary's viewers did not really understand the science behind global warming, or that the issue of climate change had been bubbling away, often unnoticed, for years. The fact that An Inconvenient Truth featured dramatic images (melting ice caps, marooned polar bears) and a powerful person speaking with passion (Gore) suddenly gave a focus to the formerly nebulous green issue. The complexities of climate change no longer seemed quite so off- putting or dull, even to US voters.

Might it be possible to perform a similar trick for fiscal reform? This is a question I have been mulling over in recent weeks, for as the campaigning in the 2012 US election gathers pace, a curious paradox hangs over the political debate. In theory, almost every American voter who can read Facebook and Twitter, turn on cable television - or peruse the FT - knows that fiscal issues are crucial in this forthcoming vote. Politicians are tossing fiscal rhetoric about, engaging in a fierce ideological debate about the nature and role of government.

And some of these slogans are striking emotional chords.