Leadership Quote by Helle Thorning-Schmidt

"Of course we have to address the deficit if we win"

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Politician

About this Quote

A deficit is the kind of problem politicians love to promise theyll tackle, right up until they actually have to. Thorning-Schmidts line is built on that tension: the breezy "Of course" projects inevitability and competence, while the conditional "if we win" quietly admits the real constraint is not economics but power. Its a sentence that reassures fiscal hawks without scaring off voters who hear "deficit" and translate it into cuts, higher taxes, or both.

The intent is pragmatic and strategic. As a center-left leader trying to look credible on public finances, she signals she wont treat budget discipline as a right-wing fetish. But she also refuses to name the medicine. "Address" is a deliberately soft verb: it implies responsibility without committing to austerity, stimulus, reforms, or timeline. The phrase functions like political shrink-wrap, keeping the policy vague while advertising the brand values: seriousness, adulthood, readiness to govern.

The subtext is coalition math and market optics. In European politics, especially in the post-crisis era, deficits arent just domestic talking points; theyre read by bond markets, EU institutions, and rival parties looking for weakness. By tethering action to electoral victory, she is also telling voters: give me the mandate and Ill do the hard thing. Its a subtle reframing of discomfort as leadership, while leaving enough ambiguity to negotiate once the campaign is over and reality - parliamentary bargaining, public backlash, economic surprises - arrives.

Quote Details

Topic	Money
Source	Help us find the source
Cite	Cite this Quote

More Quotes by Helle Add to List

About the Author

Helle Thorning-Schmidt (born December 14, 1966) is a Politician from Denmark.

10 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes

"I think where I differ a little bit, we absolutely have to think about the deficit looking down the road. And certainly that's something the president has said that we need to, as the economy recovers, have a plan in place for getting it down"

Christina Romer, Economist

"It is vital that we get these policies right as we take forward our plans to drive down the deficit and transform our economy"

David Cameron, Politician

"We are in a bit of a policy box and it's going to require us being willing to give up one of the two, which is it's okay to take on more deficits but lets put in some massive spending. Alternatively to say, 'we're going to go through structural unemployment for a while because we want to address deficits.'"

Indra Nooyi, Businessman

"I said we are going to balance an $11 billion budget deficit in a $29 billion budget, so by percentage, the largest budget deficit in America, by percentage, larger than California, larger than New York, larger than Illinois. And we're going to balance that without raising taxes on the people of the state of New Jersey"

Chris Christie, Politician

"We can't have deficit spending in Texas. You have to balance your budget every two years"

Rick Perry, Politician

Rick Perry

"The deficit - the U.S. knows our deficit is too large. We are committed to bringing it down. We are bringing it down. The deficit came in for fiscal year '05 at considerably below where it was the prior year"

John W. Snow, Economist

"We are worried about the size of the deficit, which is why the president is pleased that the House and Senate have followed his lead in cutting the deficit in half over the next five years"

Ken Mehlman, Politician

"I've, we have in this state, like many other states, we're experiencing an enormous budget deficit that we're trying to grapple with. But we will have progress despite the deficits"

Jennifer Granholm, Politician

"The financial report makes it very clear that if we got into honest budgeting today, that in fact we would find ourselves with a much larger deficit than we have today"

Jim Costa, Politician

"We can have tax cuts, but when we have tax cuts and do not have a surplus, the amount of the tax cut goes straight to the bottom line, adds to the deficit, and the deficit adds to the national debt, and sooner or later, the debt has to be paid"

John Spratt, Politician

"Understanding that yes, we are committing more resources than we thought we might be in protecting our homeland and prosecuting a war and so it's understandable that we would be going through a period of deficits"

Donald Evans, Public Servant

"For one thing, one of the wonderful things that we now have is instead of the huge budget surpluses that President Clinton left us with, we now have these huge deficits that we're going to be facing into the future"

Geraldine Ferraro, Politician

"I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself"

Ronald Reagan, President

Ronald Reagan

"We're focused on doing the things that make the economy perform well, and as you do that, reduce deficits, for one, very important; secondly, keep growth rates high, very important"

John W. Snow, Economist

"We're on the verge of a financial collapse unless we balance the budget, and that means some really, really tough decisions"

Gary Johnson

"We have to have great pitching performances from our guys, and we have to take it from there"

Bobby Bonilla, Athlete

"In the light of the actual fighting that is now in progress, we have reached the point where the military considerations clearly outweigh the fiscal considerations"

Louis A. Johnson, Public Servant

"America knows it has got to deal with its deficit problems so that it, too, can promise it is making its proper and best contributions to the world economy"

Gordon Brown, Politician

"But the debt limit obviously is something that needs to and will be passed. That is not inconsistent with a process and a belief that we have to get significant deficit reduction"

David Plouffe, Public Servant

"Essentially, when we run a deficit, we are borrowing money to buy things that are made overseas"

Peter DeFazio, Politician