Well, let me think. We've had deficits in the last few years. We had a deficit of $56 billion in 2009, and we shrunk 2.5%. We had a deficit of $34 billion in 2010-11, and we grew 3.2%. Economies can grow with deficits. What you want to avoid is a buildup of debt that we will pass on to future generations and that will restrain capital spending. We've got to give our future governments room to manoeuvre.
On November 2nd, 2011. See this statement in context.