"incapable of engaging in robust deficit spending when it would have done some good. "

And there you are "fighting the last war", Proving that so many have learned nothing from the sins of the past (sorry if that is too cliched).  

Which is why Latin America has had so many debt-driven boom-bust cycles, and why current economic policies are so misguided, since they follow the same pattern (thus LATAM does bear quite a strong resemblance to what is happening in our country today), meaning at the next recession, our debt will already be so high, the stimulatory effect will be negligible, even if we get the deficit back up to the levels seen under PET.