One of the nation's foremost economic minds is calling on policy makers to let the Bush administration's 2001 tax cuts expire to help balance the federal budget.

"They should follow the law and let them lapse," Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Bloomberg News Thursday, citing the need for tax revenue to cut the U.S. nearly $1.6 billion budget deficit.

President Bill Clinton was last U.S. president to run a budget surplus, recording budget surpluses in the final four years of his administration.

President George W. Bush's 2001 $1.1 trillion tax cut instantaneously turned a budget surplus into a roughly $200 billion budget deficit.

Want to sum up the United States' fiscal situation in a word?

Warren Buffett did, or did so in 16 words to be exact, in a chat with The New York Times: "I'm paying the lowest tax rate that I've ever paid in my life," Buffet said. "Now, that's crazy."

Further, Buffett, the world's richest person as ranked by Forbes Magazine with wealth totaling $62 billion, also said the U.S. Government should increase taxes on the wealthy to help pay for the recently-passed bank rescue, which is designed to end the financial crisis.

Buffett's stance demonstrates that there is at least one person of high income and/or wealth (and probably many more) who believe upper-income groups should be paying more in federal taxes each year.

2001 tax cut generated large U.S. budget deficits

Buffett's view is also in stark contrast to the Bush Administration's philosophy and policy, which has prevailed for the decade and which argues that lower tax rates on upper-income groups will not only generate higher GDP growth, but also result in revenues high enough to close the federal budget deficit. It hasn't happened, said economist David H. Wang.