1. If the external sector was running a surplus equivalent to 4 per cent of GDP, and the sum of all the private sector spending plans indicated it was desiring to run a surplus overall equivalent to 6 per cent, then the government could safely plan on achieving a budget surplus of 2 per cent of GDP.

2. If governments allowed the automatic stabilisers built into the government balance to work counter-cyclically and avoided discretionary shifts in fiscal policy, the fiscal balance would return to its appropriate level after a cyclical disturbance.

3. If austerity led to all national governments simultaneously running public surpluses (which is the aim) then it would be impossible for all their respective private domestic sectors to save overall.