Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der has recently drawn wide-ranging criticism for his improper remarks. In one incident, he contended that 'the Republic of China has the best finances' in the world, dismissing the belief that government finances are worsening as a 'mistaken notion.' Lee argued that the government's fiscal deficit has stemmed from the capital budget and that there is surplus on the current budget every year. He also said that the debt levels and flows of the government have not violated the ceiling stipulated in the Public Debt Act. However, we must point out that a correct assessment should derive from professional knowledge and training, not from evasion and the concealment of truths. First, if what the minister said is correct, why has every prominent international credit rating agency downgraded Taiwan's sovereign credit rating in recent years? Second, if what the minister said is correct, then Taiwan has never suffered from a budget deficit since the Budget Act was in place, because the law stipulates that the government's current revenue must be higher than current expenditure. Lee's budget notions are mainly based on corporate finance, which believes that debts incurred for capital investment do not worsen a company's fiscal status, because there has not been any change to its 'net worth.' However, unlike investment projects by private businesses, public construction projects are not 'self-liquidating.' Thus, government should be more careful and conservative about its finances than private businesses. As the country's financier, Lee should know these economic concepts. His claim that government debt has not exceeded the legal limit is even more unacceptable to the well-informed. The fact that government finances have not broken the law does not mean there is no problem or crisis. Furthermore, the government has accumulated hundreds of billions in debt that 'according to law' are excluded from the calculation of the debt ceiling. (April 8, 2010) 