Season 1 · Episode 378
The temerity of austerity
The problem with austerity is it doesn’t work. Yet governments seem intent on using it as a reason to force budget cuts, ignoring the fact that it always results in an economic downturn.
Debunking Economics - the podcast · Steve Keen & Phil Dobbie
November 22, 202340m 1s
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Show Notes
George Osbourne was the UK Chancellor wedded to austerity. “More cuts, more difficult decisions” he said at the start of 2014, as he struggled to get the British budget back into surplus. But regular listeners to this podcast know that a government budget in surplus is sucking money out of the economy. Steve Keen reminds us of the logic that shows austerity does nothing except cause damage. Phil talks through some of that damage, including cuts to public services, a shortage of UK life expectancy, even an increase in hate crime. But, weirdly, the country is still facing austerity. Not through a lack of government spending, but through a high level of taxation. People are still struggling, and the economy is on a fast road to nowhere, whilst other countries follow suit.
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