One trick is privatization of government enterprises, which reduces the budget deficit in a given year on a one-time basis, but might increase the deficit in the long run if the enterprise had been profitable. Another trick is to legislate tax cuts that are “temporary,” in order to make future revenues look larger, despite the intention to make the cuts permanent before they expire.
但是，不管规则设计得多么巧妙，聪明而有决心的政治家都有办法绕过这些规则。其中一个窍门就是把政府企业私有化，这就减少了某年的预算赤字——当然只能使用一次，但如果这个企业是盈利的话这也许会增加政府的长期赤字。另一个窍门就是立法实施“暂时”的减税，这会使未来的收入看起来更多——尽管其意图是维持减税直到该法律失效为止。