Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea

The History of a Dangerous Idea

Business & Finance, Economics, Money & Monetary Policy, Macroeconomics
Cover of the book Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea by Mark Blyth, Oxford University Press, USA
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Mark Blyth ISBN: 9780199939091
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA Publication: March 7, 2013
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Mark Blyth
ISBN: 9780199939091
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Publication: March 7, 2013
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

Conservatives today in both Europe and the United States have succeeded in casting government spending as reckless wastefulness that has made the economy worse. In contrast, they have advanced a policy of draconian budget cuts--austerity--to solve the financial crisis. We are told that we have all lived beyond our means and now need to tighten our belts. This view conveniently forgets where all that debt came from. Not from an orgy of government spending, but as the direct result of bailing out, recapitalizing, and adding liquidity to the broken banking system. Through these actions private debt was rechristened as government debt while those responsible for generating it walked away scot free, placing the blame on the state, and the burden on the taxpayer. That burden now takes the form of a global turn to austerity, the policy of reducing domestic wages and prices to restore competitiveness and balance the budget. The problem, according to political economist Mark Blyth, is that austerity is a very dangerous idea. First of all, it doesn't work. As the past four years and countless historical examples from the last 100 years show, while it makes sense for any one state to try and cut its way to growth, it simply cannot work when all states try it simultaneously: all we do is shrink the economy. In the worst case, austerity policies worsened the Great Depression and created the conditions for seizures of power by the forces responsible for the Second World War: the Nazis and the Japanese military establishment. As Blyth amply demonstrates, the arguments for austerity are tenuous and the evidence thin. Rather than expanding growth and opportunity, the repeated revival of this dead economic idea has almost always led to low growth along with increases in wealth and income inequality. Austerity demolishes the conventional wisdom, marshaling an army of facts to demand that we recognize austerity for what it is, and what it costs us.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Conservatives today in both Europe and the United States have succeeded in casting government spending as reckless wastefulness that has made the economy worse. In contrast, they have advanced a policy of draconian budget cuts--austerity--to solve the financial crisis. We are told that we have all lived beyond our means and now need to tighten our belts. This view conveniently forgets where all that debt came from. Not from an orgy of government spending, but as the direct result of bailing out, recapitalizing, and adding liquidity to the broken banking system. Through these actions private debt was rechristened as government debt while those responsible for generating it walked away scot free, placing the blame on the state, and the burden on the taxpayer. That burden now takes the form of a global turn to austerity, the policy of reducing domestic wages and prices to restore competitiveness and balance the budget. The problem, according to political economist Mark Blyth, is that austerity is a very dangerous idea. First of all, it doesn't work. As the past four years and countless historical examples from the last 100 years show, while it makes sense for any one state to try and cut its way to growth, it simply cannot work when all states try it simultaneously: all we do is shrink the economy. In the worst case, austerity policies worsened the Great Depression and created the conditions for seizures of power by the forces responsible for the Second World War: the Nazis and the Japanese military establishment. As Blyth amply demonstrates, the arguments for austerity are tenuous and the evidence thin. Rather than expanding growth and opportunity, the repeated revival of this dead economic idea has almost always led to low growth along with increases in wealth and income inequality. Austerity demolishes the conventional wisdom, marshaling an army of facts to demand that we recognize austerity for what it is, and what it costs us.

More books from Oxford University Press, USA

Cover of the book Constantine the Emperor by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Burr, Hamilton, and Jefferson : A Study in Character by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Better PowerPoint (R) : Quick Fixes Based On How Your Audience Thinks by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book The Prince of Medicine: Galen in the Roman Empire by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Modern Music and After by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book The Art of Teaching Art : A Guide for Teaching and Learning the Foundations of Drawing-Based Art by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Flammable : Environmental Suffering in an Argentine Shantytown by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Cultures in Conflict : Christians Muslims and Jews in the Age of Discovery by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Oxford History of Western Music: 5-vol. set: 5-vol. set by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Do You Really Need Back Surgery?: A Surgeon's Guide to Neck and Back Pain and How to Choose Your Treatment by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Hi-de-ho:The Life of Cab Calloway by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Color Blind Justice : Albion Tourgee and the Quest for Racial Equality from the Civil War to Plessy v. Ferguson by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Living with Mild Cognitive Impairment:A Guide to Maximizing Brain Health and Reducing Risk of Dementia by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Bodies of Evidence : The Practice of Queer Oral History by Mark Blyth
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy