[sievebrain]

You see the same in most governments though. A surplus is rarely banked. Instead a budget surplus is immediately spent on structural spending like increased wages. A ballot measure to force the government to give back budget surplus is a smart move - the borrowing and service cuts give people a direct linkage to how their economy is doing.

Look at Germany. Huge budget surplus last year which is now predicted to be spent entirely on helping migrants who turned up after Merkel invited them in. Would the Germans have liked the money back? Most likely! Were they ever going to be given that option when politicians had the option of feeling good about themselves through additional spending? No way!