Dr. Miche?l Collins:

I agree with the Deputy's critique. I do not think we will have that issue. That is clearly not the pathway that anybody in this society wants to take. The pathway we are on is one of raising more taxation revenue somewhere. That is where we have to begin to consider things. If we do not, we will simply end up collecting more income and consumption taxes. Maybe that is the route to take but that has significant negative consequences for living standards, through consumption taxes, and for work incentives and participation, through income taxes. To avoid the default, we need to think about the options. There is a welcome set of options. I agree with the Deputy that these are difficult choices.