Ping.
Wonderland (and the US, ftm, just not quite yet) is in its current situation because it has morphed over time into a drunkard who has spent the rent on his favourite booze, in this case the cradle-to-grave welfare state, and is now reduced to begging passers-by for the amount of his next monthly cheques.
The cut spending/don't cut spending dichotomy presented in this silly article is woefully misrepresented. The assorted nations in Wonderland will simply have to reduce spending or they will collapse into themselves. The only variable here is the time frame for collapse.
The article is useful for one thing, though: it demonstrates that promises -- any promises -- from any goobermint about responsibility in spending are utterly void on their respective faces. 3% deficit-to-GDP cap? What cap is that? We know we promised, but circumstances have changed, so we will just ignore our promise.
It's difficult to say who is more complicit in this fiasco, the assorted incompetent, feather-pated politicos or the (evidently) incompetent bankers and central bankers who presumably should have known better and pulled in their horns years ago. This isn't nuclear physics after all; one cannot spend more than one earns, world without end -- sooner or later (usually sooner), the bill comes due.
Happy social unrest, Wonderlanders.