Pray Tell, When Is a Good Time for Austerity?

It is a basic rule of human nature not to voluntarily self inflict pain upon ourselves. If there is any way to avoid the day of reckoning, even if it means the eventual catastrophe will be much worse if we delay, we always choose to hold reality in abeyance. This principle applies to countries as well because the notion of embracing austerity on a national level goes against the grain of our collective psyche.