Handling Budgetary Deficits - A summary of an Economist Article

I happen to read The Economist,which has a rather different view of handling budgetary deficits of nations.
It articulates that popular thumb rules like government debt being 60% of the GDP for rich countries don't necessarily apply anymore. A government should aim at not passing on the burden of debt to future generations to come so as to leave them maneuvering space for future recessions.
So how can countries cut debt? One could tackle it through inflation by defaulting. Budget tightening along with boosting growth should be the focus. Evidence from the past suggests that tax cuts and cutting down on public infrastructure is has had negative impact on economies employing such strategies.
Increasing consumption tax than income tax would be a better way to boost growth.