Save or Spend

On a personal level if one is in financial difficulty , common sense would dictate that one should curtail spending and limit spending to the bare essentials .
If a country is in financial difficulty , it would seem right to follow the same principle
However , the USA and EU seem to think that the best way to tackle the problem is to throw caution to the wind , borrow money and spend it and encourage irresponsible spending by the people as well .
This does not seem to be a sensible proposition