William C. Dudley, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federqal Reserve Bank of New York, March 25, 2013: “While the U.S. must put its public finances on a sustainable footing, this should be done in a manner that best achieves both our near-term and long-term objectives. In my opinion, a U.S. fiscal policy well-suited for the current set of circumstances would start with a very mild degree of restraint in the near-term that would credibly build to substantial consolidation over the next several decades. Of course, it is for Congress to judge what combination of tax increases and spending cuts should be undertaken to achieve this. Nevertheless, the aging of our population and simple math suggest that entitlement reform would need to be part of such a plan. Also, in an ideal world, fiscal policy would have broad-based bipartisan support. That would reduce uncertainty and reassure households and businesses that the U.S. was on a sustainable long-term path.”