Financial Crises Require Governments.

If You Don't Try To Generate More Revenues Through Tax Reform, If You Don't Ask, You Know, The Most Fortunate Americans To Bear A Slightly Larger Burden Of The Privilege Of Being An American, Then You Have To - The Only Way To Achieve Fiscal Sustainability Is Through Unacceptably Deep Cuts In Benefits For Middle Class Seniors, Or Unacceptably Deep Cuts In National Security.

Some Think That By Preparing To Deal With Crises You Make Them More Likely. I Think The Wiser Judgment Is The Contrary. In This Area At Least, If You Want Peace Or Stability, It's Better To Prepare For War Or Instability

And I Think It's A Prudent, Responsible Way, Given The Scale Of The Emergency, The Scale Of The Damage Still Facing America, That We Finance These Additional Support For The Unemployed As Well As The Support For Small Business. We Think There's A Good Case For Doing It Now. We Want To Do It In An Overall Fiscally Responsible Way.

The Recognition That Things That Are Not Sustainable Will Eventually Come To An End Does Not Give Us Much Of A Guide To Whether The Transition Will Be Calm Or Exciting.

Looking Past The Immediate Crisis, A More Resilient System Must Be Built On Stronger And Better Designed Shock Absorbers, Both In The Major Institutions And In The Infrastructure Of The Financial System.