Bhanupong Nidhiprabha argues that fiscal rules are important to maintain public confidence, price stability, and long-term economic growth. In the general discussion several commentators pointed out the importance of government spending on education. In Siow Yue Chia's view, education is a serious issue in Thailand, which could leave the country in a middle-income trap, if left unaddressed. Anwar Nasution agreed with this comment. He stressed that the composition of government spending is crucial. Becoming a high-income country is difficult if not impossible without good infrastructure, including soft infrastructure like education. Naoyuki Yoshino added that the quality of education was also important. Moreover, he suggested that fiscal policy needs to be evaluated in terms of job creation and its impact on private investment.
Eric Ramstetter wondered whether Nidhiprabha had understated the importance of education because of the paper's focus on the short-run effects of fiscal policy rather than its long-term influence....