Mark Rutte Quotes

While President Obama shirks his responsibility to advance solutions to our fiscal challenges, he can no longer hide from the merciless math of the balance sheet. Conservatives have made certain of that.

What will growth policy have to look like in a fiscally compacted Europe? Clearly any illusion of budget stimulated growth policy will have to go away.

Europe is trying to get its fiscal house in order.

Dealing with Greece's problems will be more difficult if Greece is not a member of the eurozone.

I am personally convinced - and I think the Greek people share this belief in a fundamental way - that we can achieve fiscal consolidation more effectively and we can restore competitiveness in a more fundamental and permanent way within the euro area than outside.

I would like to see Greece as a case study, an opportunity for Europe to strengthen its coordination of fiscal policy.

Markets are saying pretty much what I'm saying too: that Greece is doing what it can, but that Greece is not going to be able to carry the weight of all of Europe and the other problems that Europe has.

Italy needed structural reforms to become more competitive.

I think we're going to have some difficulty in front of us. I have absolutely no doubt the next three, four years Europe are going to be at best stagnation. We are preparing for tough times.

Southern Europe has not done enough to enhance its competitiveness, while northern Europe has not done enough to boost demand. Debt burdens remain crushing, and Europe's economy remains unable to grow.

As austerity measures were foisted upon Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and other highly indebted countries, growth was rendered even more elusive, aggravating unemployment

Europe needs to make its first, second and third economic priorities economic development.

In Europe, we see the underlying strength of the economy, especially in southern European countries.

For too long, our nation has relied on low interest rates rather than undertaking the necessary long term necessary economic reforms.

If we're going to have a strong and dynamic economy in the years ahead, we need to tackle some of the structural challenges that our economy faces and the tax code is one of the biggest.

We need to show that Europe is investing in growth and not only in rigor and austerity.

The Netherlands has been severely hit by the debt crisis, and the solution is to lower taxes, get government finances in order, and make room for investment.

Reforms aimed at increasing an economy's flexibility are always hard - and even more so at a time of weak growth - because they require eliminating protections for vested interests in the short term for the sake of greater long-term prosperity.

Two decisions have damaged the stability both of the euro and of Europe: the premature admission of Greece to the euro area and the breach and subsequent weakening of the stability and growth pact.

The diversity of Europe is its strength. But for a single currency to work, over a region with enormous economic and political diversity, is not easy.

Britain can choose, as others are, short term fixes and more stimulus. Or we can lead the world with long-term solutions to long-term problems.

Let me put it very forcefully: No large economy has ever recovered from an economic downturn through austerity. It's not going to happen in the United States, and it's not going to happen in Europe.

European officials thought that austerity was part of what they called their 'convergence policies,' of trying to bring countries together. Instead, it actually made things worse. There's more inequality within countries and more disparity across countries.

It's impossible for China to keep 10 to 15% growth annually. The economy needed to slow down, and we have to learn to slow down.

The euro has become a means by which superior German productivity is able to gain an absolutely unbeatable advantage over the whole eurozone territory.