But if a fiscal authority helped governments credibly commit to a target debt-to-GDP ratio by a certain date, it could then combine stimulus today with austerity later.
You are living in a time when you can enjoy the finer things without needing to commit to a lot of debt.
Third, the fiscally responsible European countries can't commit to a policy that their debt-ridden partners can't live up to.
That would be disastrous.The government has little room for manoeuvre in fiscal policy: to stabilise the public debt, it is committed to a surplus (before interest payments) of 4.25% of GDP.
Under the terms of the updated charter, the Conservatives and their Lib Dem partners would commit to get debt falling as a share of national output by 2016/17 and would also seek to get the structural current budget in balance by 2017/18.
But as that legislation moves forward, the president of the University of Oregon is pursuing an unusual effort to have the state issue some $800 million in new bonds, and commit to covering the debt service for 30 years.
In order for seniors (and anyone, really) to get the most out of the loyalty programs they join and the credit cards they sign up for, they need to commit to remaining debt-free.
Tim Byles, chief executive of Partnerships for Schools, told the MPs that banks were only prepared to commit to debts of £20m-£30m £20m-£30m
There is also concern over the cash Alcatel would need to buy Lucent's optical business, for which it has submitted a bid, and over resources Alcatel would have to commit to reduce Lucent's debt if a merger occurred.
These are: abolition of wage indexation systems, agreement on mutual recognition of education qualifications, creation of a common base for assessing corporate tax, adjustment of the pension systems, establishment of a national crisis management regime for banks and new legal measures to force countries to commit to tough fiscal policies through a "debt alert mechanism".
