Democracy Quote by Ben Carson
““Both Democrats and Republicans have strayed so far from the path of responsible financial policy that the concept of balancing the budget is foreign to them. I believe many of them simply cannot grasp the concept of only spending what you have. I do understand that making budgetary cuts will be painful, but it will not be nearly as painful as going bankrupt! One need only look at historic images of Hungarian pengo bills being swept in the gutter in 1946 or of the Zimbabwe one hundred trillion dollar bill created recently because of their rocketing hyperinflation11 to understand the gravity of this situation.””
About This Quote
Source Speech: Public remarks, 2023
Fiscal irresponsibility leads to severe economic crises, as seen in historic hyperinflation events.
In simple terms: Bad budgeting causes big problems.
Prioritize balanced budgets.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- government budgeting
- public policy debates
- financial education
- preventing crises
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How can policymakers enforce fiscal discipline?
- What lessons do past hyperinflations teach today?
Balancing budgets may be politically unpopular.