I think my wife would take objection to any characterization of me as perfect.

A government decision that slashes spending at the wrong time and sends a weak economy into a tailspin can be just as undisciplined as one that unleashes a wasteful spending spree in an overheated environment.

Disciplined governments do not engage in the economic equivalent of binge eating followed by crash dieting.

Economic growth creates jobs, and countries grow when they educate their people and pursue policies that encourage households to save, existing businesses to invest, and entrepreneurs to innovate and create new markets.

As an economist, I'm aware that life is full of trade offs.

I think my wife would take objection to any characterization of me as perfect.

I think that whether you're on the right or on the left as an economist or as a policy maker, every serious analyst I know agrees that at some point you have to deal with entitlements.