Through a historical analysis, this article examines the experience of fiscal balance in Taiwan from the end of WWII to the 1980s, and finds that such a mode of fiscal regulation shows flagrant anti-social characters. From l980s on, however, serious crises have appeared in this mode because of the pressing demands of economic and political liberalization. This, in turn, foretold the formation of a new ruling power structure. Under such a structure, mainstream debates about fiscal deficit and its solutions mostly reflect neoliberal programs such as that in the Washington Consensus. Such a program may bring back Taiwan's past historical experience of fiscal balance, with the cost of worsening social inequality.