William Vickrey Quotes

It's insane to try to balance the budget.

I will work to restore fiscal responsibility to our country's budget and to provide for a more robust economy.

We agree with Simpson and Bowles and others who have looked at this. What's necessary is to stabilize the debt and then work from there. You can't balance the budget in the short term because to do that would be to ratchet down the economy.

We have a spending problem, not a taxing problem. The less we spend, the more jobs we have the potential to create.

I think the government lost control over fiscal policy in UPA-2. But it is possible to suggest that the momentum of the populism of UPA-1 did the damage when the economy slowed down, but government spending could not.

The insane pursuit of the holy grail of a balanced budget in the end is going to drive the economy into a depression.

Gradual fiscal consolidation may also be stimulative in the short run.

If we don't get a grip on government spending, there will be no growth.

Reducing debt through budgetary consolidation is essential to restoring Europe's financial health.

The government is determined to continue the process of fiscal consolidation and structural reform in order to secure sound public finances and improve the country's international competitiveness.

When gross public debt exceeds 90 percent of GDP, economic growth tends to decline considerably.

We have to reduce the burden placed on our economy by years of deficits and debt.

Well, a deficit reflects an imbalance between spending and revenue, and so narrowing it requires acting on one, the other or both.

Monetary discipline forces fiscal discipline on the politicians as well.

Well, I think the president has clearly submitted us a tight budget, but it's what's called for if we're going to get spending under control and keep the economy moving in the right direction, with economic growth and job creation activity.

Never in the nation’s history had a president proposed large, simultaneous spending increases and tax cuts when the federal budget already had a deficit.

The first order of business is the elimination of the annual deficit.

Trying to balance the budget through defense cuts is both counterproductive and impossible.

Fiscal discipline can turn the economy around.

It certainly would be helpful going forward for deficit reduction efforts to focus on the medium term while not subtracting from the impetus we need to keep a fragile economy moving forward.

Look at what happened in the 1990s: when they balanced the federal budget, it was through growth in the economy and controlling spending.

We want to send a clear message that the Mexican government won't endanger its fiscal position, and we will remain on a path of fiscal responsibility.

Fiscal policy will need to manage trade-offs between supporting demand, protecting social spending, and ensuring that public debt remains on a sustainable path, with the optimal mix depending on country-specific circumstances.

It is important for India to stay the course on fiscal consolidation.

To be clear, aiming to reduce the national debt in the long term and running small surpluses when the economy is operating close to full capacity is what I mean when I talk about seeking to 'balance the books' - a sensible approach.