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 The Performance of Politics:Obama's Victory and the Democratic Struggle for Power by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book The 1979 Book Of Common Prayer by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Exercise for Mood and Anxiety:Proven Strategies for Overcoming Depression and Enhancing Well-Being by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book They Never Said It : A Book of Fake Quotes Misquotes and Misleading Attributions by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Zen Masters by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Integrative Oncology by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book The AIDS Generation: Stories of Survival and Resilience by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Writing With Power : Techniques For Mastering The Writing Process by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Helping Children with Selective Mutism and Their Parents:A Guide for School-Based Professionals by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book The Making of Buddhist Modernism 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 Washington's Crossing by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Thieves of Book Row: New York's Most Notorious Rare Book Ring and the Man Who Stopped It by Mark Blyth
Cover of the book Golden Fetters : The Gold Standard and the Great Depression, 1919-1939 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