United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Accounting and Information Management Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1994-12-13 monographic deposited born digital 222 p. GA 1.13:AIMD-95-30 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-AIMD-95-30 P0b002ee180381746 f:ai95030 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-AIMD-95-30 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-AIMD-95-30 AIMD-95-30 Foreign governments Deficit reduction Budget cuts Fiscal policies Economic analysis Budget outlays Balanced budgets Economic growth Tax administration Budget deficit Australia Canada Germany Japan Mexico United Kingdom Chapter Report AIMD This report reviews the deficit reduction experiences of six nations--Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. GAO identifies the situations prompting these governments to adopt fiscal austerity policies, what budget actions they took, and how they achieved political agreement on these actions. All six countries took steps to control spending, although few programs were eliminated. Revenue growth also contributed significantly, but was generally attributable to tax systems' response to economic growth and inflation. Through these measures, five of the six countries reached fiscal balance or surplus; Canada reduced its deficit but did not eliminate it. Despite such progress, all but Mexico reported deficits in 1993. These experiences show that significant structural improvement in fiscal policy is possible in modern democracies, although such progress is difficult to sustain. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-AIMD-95-30/html/GAOREPORTS-AIMD-95-30.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-AIMD-95-30/pdf/GAOREPORTS-AIMD-95-30.pdf GAO/AIMD-95-30 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-AIMD-95-30 Chapter Report GAO/AIMD-95-30; Deficit Reduction: Experiences of Other Nations; Foreign governments Deficit reduction Budget cuts Fiscal policies Economic analysis Budget outlays Balanced budgets Economic growth Tax administration Budget deficit Australia Canada Germany Japan Mexico United Kingdom