The most credible reforms are structural – for example, higher retirement ages and changes to benefit formulas – and difficult to alter once they are implemented. Merely setting a dollar (or pound or euro) target for budget cuts is far less effective, because the target can easily be revised – and cuts reversed – to avoid political pain.
最可靠的改革是结构性改革——比如提高退休年龄、改变福利模式——而且一旦实施就难以改变。仅仅为预算削减设置金钱数量目标是远远不够的，因为这一目标很容易修改以避免政治痛苦——而削减也将就此撤销。