Helle Thorning-Schmidt Quotes

We cannot cut our way to prosperity.

It is better to implement reforms in times of economic strength.

Voters want prosperity, not austerity.

The country needs fiscal discipline to build a strong economy and for social justice.

Any move to reduce government spending is a positive for the economy.

Austerity is not part of the European treaties; democracy and the principle of popular sovereignty are.

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

Americans know that we cannot tax and spend our way out of a recession, yet Democrats can't grasp this simple fact.

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're focused on doing the things that make the economy perform well, and as you do that, reduce deficits, for one, very important; secondly, keep growth rates high, very important.

The more we can do to address fiscal austerity, the better our markets will do, and there is a real political shift to doing that.

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

The single greatest force for deficit reduction is a growing economy.

I believe reduced spending, lower taxation, and economic growth go hand-in-hand.

I believe that if we are able to, obviously we need to ensure that we have a robust budget that's balanced, but there's no way I would ever accept austerity.

You cannot have a society where you spend more than you earn. I mean, it's just fundamentally not viable in the long run.

Prosperity cannot be restored by raids upon the public Treasury.

Our problem in the 2015 general election was that for all the good stuff that was in the Labour manifesto, we were still going to be freezing public sector wages, cutting council expenditure, laying off civil servants. We were offering 'austerity light' instead of a real alternative.

Our economy grew at double the rate of the nation. We created 1.3 million jobs. We led the nation seven out of those eight years. We were only one of two states that went to AAA bond rating. I cut taxes, $19 billion. If you do that and apply conservative principles the right way, you create an environment where everybody rises up.

Near-term deficits are temporary and manageable if - and only if - we keep spending in check, the tax burden low and the economy growing.

As the President reviewed the state of the union and unveiled his second-term agenda, he fell short of adequately explaining how he intends to set America back on the course of fiscal responsibility and secure the fiscal health of the nation.

Past experience with fiscal austerity at home and overseas strongly suggests that it is best for the economy's long-run performance to restrain government spending rather than raise taxes.

The American people know that we cannot spend our way to prosperity.

I served at a time when we had a strong economy, when we had deficits that we would die for today. I was able to propose a balanced budget, not over ten years, but over five years. I'm proud of that record.

Defense spending as a share of the economy dropped significantly during the early 1990s, and that was one of the things, along with other policy changes, that put us back on the path to a balanced budget.