Reducing costs. Reducing spending. Reducing debt. Managing through the new austerity. Doing more with less. This familiar language that the private sector uses when times get tough, is becoming increasingly familiar to governments worldwide. And the message is clear: Business as usual will no longer be tolerated.

Around the world, the massive fiscal stimulus programs that were put in place to pull economies out of the 2008 Great Recession are now being translated into fiscal consolidation strategies, and for good reason. The unprecedented fiscal expansion has led to explosive–and, in some cases, unmanageable–sovereign debt levels. The 2010 Greek debt crisis, which created financial shock waves around the globe, indicated how volatile the situation has become for a number of countries. Keep reading →