[crdoconnor]

>Forget about balanced budgets

You can forget about balanced budgets. If you print a currency you borrow in, you never have to worry about insolvency. Ever.

Unless you're one of those kooky economists who predicted Japan would experience full on hyperinflation in the 90s. Then again in the 2000s. Then again in the 2010s...

[kevinali]

Most European countries can't print their own currency directly. As such, they certainly have to worry about insolvency (PIGS). Therefore, in the European context, balancing the budget or at least managing it well is definitely something you can't "forget" about.