At the Liberal Democrat conference in 2011 Jeremy Browne, MP for Taunton, was heard to say, "We have taken down the picture of Keynes in the office and put up one of Gladstone". If it were only the picture ! At the time, I thought Keynes knew a little more about economics than you Jeremy. It seems now that the Financial Times agrees. In case you can't get past the paywall, here's a quote:
The lack of growth in the
austerity nations should have come as no surprise, with monetary policy transmission
channels clogged and the global nature of the slowdown keeping exports weak. In
a balance sheet recession banks want to shrink their loan books and consumers
want to rid themselves of debt. The role of government at these times is to
support economic activity until excess consumer debt has been worked off and a
sustained recovery has taken hold, even if this means a higher public debt
burden in the meantime.
This is what makes the
UK’s latest moves so puzzling. In stoking up a housing boom policy
makers are doing the exact opposite, tempting a new generation of consumers
into debt in the hope the government can improve its own financial position.
A more supportive fiscal
policy would have meant an earlier and less unbalanced recovery. The sales tax
would not have been raised, slashing real disposable income early in the
recession. Major infrastructure programmes could have boosted the supply side of
the economy while creating employment and demand.
The lateness of the UK
recovery comes at a cost. The long-term unemployed have lost valuable skills
and economic stagnation has seen an unnecessary further rise in government
debt.
