Bill Clinton: “This reminds me of what we went through in 1981, so I went back and read the account. I wish my colleagues would recall…”

“This reminds me of what we went through in 1981, so I went back and read the account. I wish my colleagues would recall what David Stockman said in December of 1981. He said: The reason we did it wrong . . . was that we said, Hey, we have to get a program out fast. And when you decide to put a program of this breadth and depth out fast, you can only do so much . . . . We didn't think it all the way through. We didn't add up all the numbers. We didn't make all the thorough, comprehensive calculations about where we really needed to come out. . . . In other words, we ended up with a list that I'd always been carrying of things to be done, rather than starting the other way and asking, What is the overall fiscal policy required to reach the target? I am afraid that is what we are doing again.”