Getting the balance right between government and private debt

Governments have been using the terms ‘fiscal conservatism’ and ‘austerity’ to bring down government spending. Often it’s meant transferring government commitments (like on education) to private or individual spending (like student loans). Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve Keen if this a sensible way to encourage growth. If we accept that more spending by government increases the availability of money for people to spend, where do you draw the line? Isn’t there a risk that the government does too much, crowding out the activities of the private sector?

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