While those bonds are expressly non-transferable, which means they cannot be sold to the general public, the federal government can sell new bonds to the public to pay off these Social Security bonds, without exceeding the current national debt limit.

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No country has relied too much on cuts in public investment, which often cannot be sustained.

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Many private establishments (which must be affiliated to a public university and cannot be run for profit) suffer the same deficiencies.

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But legal aid has been one of the fastest growing areas of public expenditure, so it makes sense to restrict state resources to cases which cannot be pursued by other means.

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"The government alone cannot be effective, " he said, after a decade in which the state has borrowed heavily to pay for public works projects, hoping to kickstart the economy.

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