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Nick Clegg has warned there is not one single "lever" that can be triggered by the government to generate economic growth.
The deputy prime minister delivered a speech setting out his vision on how the government will act to rebalance the economy and unwind a "toxic legacy" of debt.
At the same time, Labour leader Ed Miliband said the government had set back the chances of young people and said his party must "stand up" for the next generation.
In a speech in Rotherham, Clegg said the government was trying to create a "new model for economic growth", based on enterprise and investment.
He said the coalition was investing in services including transport and the skills supply and education, needed by businesses to build a base for sustainable growth.
"It is very tempting in a time of economic difficulty for governments to churn out initiative after initiative, in a desperate attempt to stimulate the economy or - all too often - to try and give the appearance of doing so," the deputy prime minister said.
"And politicians can fall prey to the myth that somewhere there is a lever they can pull to generate growth, and that they should simply pull as many as possible in the hope of finding it.
"We have learned - the hard way - that an economy built on debt is built on sand. Right now, we are going through the sometimes painful process of unwinding a toxic legacy of personal, business and public debt.
"We should not fall into the trap of seeing deficit reduction and economic growth as separable. Our deficit reduction plan is a vital element in our growth plan.
"By keeping the UK out of the danger zone, and holding down the cost of borrowing, our approach is creating a stable macroeconomic platform for growth."
He acknowledged that the GDP figures for the final quarter of 2010 had been "disappointing" and made clear his belief that "the nation faces a long, hard road back to prosperity".
Clegg also stressed there is a "moral dimension" to tackling the budget deficit to ensure that future generations will not be left with the debts of their parents.
He added: "This strikes me as little short of intergenerational theft. It is the equivalent of loading up our credit card with debt and then expecting our kids to pay it off."
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