“…Rules can act as a commitment device, tying the hands of the government and limiting the use of fiscal discretion (Alesina and Tabellini 1990). For instance, to support fiscal consolidation following a financial crisis in the early 1990s, Sweden adopted an expenditure rule in 1997, which was successful at enforcing expenditure restraint and bringing down public debt (Andersen 2013). Rules can correct policymakers' incentives by raising the costs of excessive deficits, as noncompliance triggers reputational and electoral costs and, in some cases, sanctions.…”