Ironically, however, these generally are precisely the reforms that would have prevented a crisis in the first place. The only difference between countries that experience a fiscal crisis and those that don’t is the foresight to take corrective action before circumstance and markets harshly impose it upon them. In time, significant and permanent fiscal reforms must occur in the United States.
I much prefer this be done well before anyone feels an irresistible impulse to knock on this central bank’s door. BIS Review 22/2010  5