debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
There is a key element of the ‘fiscal compact’ being signed up to by most members of the European Union which is unachievable for most of the countries involved and striving to meet that objective will be highly detrimental and doomed to failure. It is the notion of achieving a balanced structural budget (technically a [...]
Some politicians (and economists) pretend that cutting spending and raising taxes will lead to budget balance.[1] The argument is all too familiar in Britain. Indeed, it is the cornerstone of the ‘austerity drive’ and ‘fiscal compact’ that the Euro Area (EA) is currently adopting. In particular, Angela Merkel has promoted the notion that government profligacy [...]
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