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Economy is in a recession. Austerity means that the government is spending _even less_ into the economy. How do you think that makes the cliff less high? Not
by rtpg 8y ago
Economy is in a recession. Austerity means that the government is spending _even less_ into the economy.
How do you think that makes the cliff less high?
Not bailing out the banks during 2008 would have been austerity. It would also have made things probably twice as bad (2008 was bad, but the 30s were way worse, like 30% unemployment bad)
There is no actual logical path between austerity and improved short or midterm economic performance. It’s feel good politics, simple and easy to understand but also plain wrong
- emmelaich 8y ago> ... government is spending _even less_ into the economy. Where do they get that money to spend? Money spent by individuals and companies is usually better spent than that by the government. (given a law-abiding high trust society) Money that passes through government is not magically imbued with some extra quality. More the opposite. Remember that story about it being cheaper to hire a taxi than go by train for two or passengers in Greece? That the Greek train system had more employees than passengers and lost a billion per year? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-16834815 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-16834815 Of course I don't want to go overboard here; money spent wisely by the government on the public good can be more effectively (productively) than the individual or company.