Osborne’s austerity accused of slashing growth by Fed paper September 10, 2013 CRITICS have railed against an economic paper released by the San Francisco Federal Reserve yesterday, which claims George Osborne’s fiscal plans have made the UK economy three per cent smaller than it would have been otherwise. The authors use an experimental technique to suggest that the adverse effects of trying to reduce the UK’s deficit [...]
Why it’s wrong to blame Osborne’s austerity for weak growth in Britain September 10, 2013 FIVE years ago, nearly every macroeconomist agreed that central banks determined aggregate demand (total spending in the economy), and that fiscal stimulus was therefore unnecessary to lift depressed economies. Conversely, fiscal austerity was seen as irrelevant at best for overall growth; any impact of austerity on demand can be offset by the right monetary policy [...]
Osborne’s recovery will not end the debate over the impact of austerity September 9, 2013 GEORGE Osborne yesterday presented his analysis of why the UK economy has turned the corner in recent months, arguing this demonstrated advocates of a “Plan B” had been proved wrong by events. He identified two candidate explanations for the slowdown of 2011-12. One school of thought he called the “fiscalist” analysis. According to this view, [...]
George Osborne to say Britain’s burgeoning recovery proves austerity was the right policy September 8, 2013 THE CHANCELLOR will today argue that spending cuts were the right policy and have helped get the UK back on the right track. George Osborne faced criticism for his plan to reduce the budget deficit, and argues the latest economic figures vindicate his approach. “The pace of fiscal consolidation has not changed, government spending cuts [...]
Against the Grain: The recovery isn’t unsustainable – but we could learn from the US on austerity August 27, 2013 SOME people are never satisfied. The evidence is mounting that the UK economy is now on the path to recovery. But to those who denied the possibility of any economic revival at all under the policies of “austerity”, this is simply not good enough. It is the wrong kind of recovery, they say. Fuelled by [...]