Germany is calling for several measures: raising retirement ages to reduce the burden on pension funds, ending the linking of wages to increases in the cost of living, committing to debt reduction and submitting to a level of budget scrutiny that was until recently considered anathema — and is still viewed by many as a step too far.
The Texan even gained room to claim that he would be committed to debt reduction, just like his opponent.
Greece's creditors committed to debt relief, although not until 2018 at the earliest, provided the country continues to carry out painful changes.
As such the Washington-based IMF would agree to back the bailout programme "in principle" via a stand-by arrangement, but would only contribute around $2bn£1.5bnbn) to it once the eurozone could commit to debt relief.
He worries that "the government is committed to debt in so many other areas now, they'll be looking everywhere they can to make savings".
That is not me saying, "I told you so", it is my outrage over the pain and misery committed by debt collectors who behave badly and routinely sue consumers because they lost their job in a lousy economy not of their making and can't dig themselves out of that mess fast enough.
But he also tried to anticipate the Democratic opposition by committing himself to debt reduction, a subject he rarely raised during his presidential campaign.
In essence, the fortunate firms took on more debt, committing the business to a stream of cash flows and expenses far into the future to pay for their losses.
In addition to buying mortgage-backed securities, the Fed has been on a buying spree of government debt, committing to purchase up to $300 billion.
The Teixeiras, having already paid off thousands of dollars in school loans, were committed to debt-free living.
