The % of GDP is irrelevant. A dollar spent by Singapore's private-but-not-really-private SBS on a maintaining a metro line is intrinsically no different to a do

The % of GDP is irrelevant. A dollar spent by Singapore's private-but-not-really-private SBS on a maintaining a metro line is intrinsically no different to a dollar spent by Greece on its metro line. Both employ people. Both are productive investments. Austerity is about shrinking public sector spending. If it's done during a period when the private sector is also shrinking its spending, the effect on employment and growth can be cataclysmic. The Heritage data isn't wrong. The Heritage just picked the wrong data to make an intentionally misleading point.