I reckon Paul De Grauwe's Vox article on austerity is already a classic, by which I mean 50+ years from now economic historians will approach it the same way they do Keynes's "Can Lloyd George Do it?".
As with Keynes's pamphlet, De Grauwe is also seeking to influence government policy rather than articulate any grand, new theory. He does so by setting out clearly, concisely and in a deliberately populist fashion, how the rationale for fiscal austerity is utter bollocks. By doing so he renders fiscal austerity and all it entails an exercise in bigoted, unthinking, hurtful, dogma.
And if that wasn't enough, heck, he even appeals to the great and the good's self-interest when he says "As it becomes obvious that the austerity programs produce unnecessary
sufferings especially for the millions of people who have been thrown
into unemployment and poverty, resistance against these programs is
likely to increase. A resistance that may lead millions of people to
wish to be liberated from what they perceive to be shackles imposed by
the euro."
So in honour of Professor Groo at a time when the Cyprus bank deposit mess sees the EU plumbing whole new depths of dumb, the attached "remix" of some of his data strikes me as an appropriate tribute.
Ta da!
The original being >>>
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
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