Actually this is Laurence Kotlikoff, he's pretty interesting : ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Kotlikoff http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Kotlikof

Actually this is Laurence Kotlikoff, he's pretty interesting : ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Kotlikoff http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Kotlikoff Wikipedia: In Kotlikoff's words, using the deficit as a guide to fiscal policy is like driving in LA with a map of NY. For unlike in our physical world in which we are all using the same language (have the same frame of reference), in the world of economics, we are each free to adopt our own frame of reference -- our own labeling convention. Thus, if Joe wants to claim that the U.S. federal government ran enormous surpluses for the last 50 years, he can simply choose appropriate words to label historic receipts and payments to produce that time series. If Sally wishes to claim the opposite, there are words she can find to "justify" her view of the past stance of fiscal policy. And if Sam wishes to claim that that economy has experienced fluctuations from deficits to surpluses of arbitrary magnitude from year to year, he can do so. Language is extremely flexible. And there is nothing in economic theory that pins down how we discuss economic theory.