Lant Prichett Quotes

Before we give you billions more, we want to know what you've done with the trillion you've got.

We design our own programmes; we take leadership. Of course the donors come in to support us, to complement our efforts. Our responsibility to the donors is about accountability: about how we use that money. If somebody gives you his money, definitely he will be interested in knowing how you spend the money.

On the Sandy bill, I did the best I could on waste, fraud and abuse, and then when the final bill comes, you don't say, 'Hell, no' because you didn't get everything you want in there.

It is time for us to insist that we are accountable for the money that we are spending.

The perverse presumption that places the burden of proof on the challenger of spending must be inverted, back to the rule that applies elsewhere in life: 'Prove to me why we should.'

If you're going to be successful, you better have a goal, you better find really good people, better understand where all the money's coming from. And you better measure the living daylights out of it.

We have a responsibility to make sure that the limited resources we have are spent efficiently and effectively and that programs achieve their mission.

My top priority will be to secure maximum value for money in aid through greater transparency, rigorous independent evaluation and an unremitting focus on results.

It's a terribly hard job to spend a billion dollars and get your money's worth.

At a time when we're having to take such difficult decisions about how to cut back without damaging the things that matter the most, we should strain every sinew to cut error, waste and fraud.

The State of Virginia is similar to a great business corporation... and should be conducted with the same efficiency and economy as any private business.

I had learned many years ago in private business never to take responsibility without adequate authority; and the new Secretary of Defense, as budgets were sharply cut, quickly found that out.

You can't fire anybody in Government; everyone blames the system. Look what is happening in NASA. Now we have to truck out these 200-plus audits out of the closet because we had a disaster [the Challenger], and we still can't find someone to fire.

In business, we use certain principles to measure performance, and I envision applying those principles in the public sector.

People, including business leaders, are willing to be open-minded about investment dollars when they know where they are going - and what purpose they are going to be dedicated - as opposed to just going into the black abyss of the general fund.

I would rather be responsible and accountable and help to reward the public shareholders going ahead.

I am mindful of my responsibilities as state treasurer, and I will not shirk those responsibilities.

Local government is a gamble that can have disastrous consequences when it fails.

My decision to appoint an inspector is not taken lightly. I hope it sends a strong signal that robust processes are in place to investigate allegations of failures in financial management and governance in local government.

There's no federal government agency that ought to be immune from having to explain the potential financial impact of an action they've taken or intend to take. We deserve the specifics.

I fully support accountability and transparency.

I have learned lessons in America about how you go about things, and what I know is that you find the best people, empower them, give them the resources, and hold them accountable.

All schools that receive public funding should be accountable, yes.

One of the reasons the American public holds unelected government officials in such low esteem is that they are never held accountable for their failures.

If you spend £200million, £300m every year, obviously, even if you make mistakes, you have a good team, but without spending so much money, you can still improve and do well.