Had It in Holland Park

The biggest deficit is democratic
"If they are too candid they will lose elections."
That is the problem.  We, the electorate, want the government to give us more services while lowering taxes and reducing the deficit.   If anyone says this cannot be done, we refuse to vote for them.  We demand that our political candidates lie to us.

The recent financial crisis had a similar root.  We, at all levels of the economy, demanded higher returns and lower risk.   Our financial institutions, looking for market share, lied to us that tis was possible. The crash was then inevitable.