This is an excellent essay from leading Oxford economist, Simon Wren-Lewis and published by LRB. Check it out!
via Simon Wren-Lewis · The Austerity Con · LRB 19 February 2015.
Let me give you a flavor:
It will be some time before economists settle on a number for the total cost of the austerity mistake, but a conservative estimate would be that, in total, resources worth around 5 per cent of GDP will have been lost for ever by delaying the recovery. That’s about £100 billion, or £1500 for each adult and child in the country.
The above costing applies to the UK, but the sums are similar for all the European countries that have been savaged by austerity, most notably Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Cyprus.
I would encourage you to read this full-length, easy-to-read, non-technical article. It provides a comprehensive history and analysis of ‘the austerity con’ that arose from the 2008 financial crisis. Critically, pivotal players, like the IMF, have changed positions several times. Most importantly the essay challenges UK Chancellor George Osborne and the conservative mainstream media.
Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with my political views – I’m basically a conservative, believing in small government and low taxes. However, it’s interesting that over the last four years, I’ve been passionately anti-austerity.
Where do you stand? Let me know your thoughts?
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