Austerity vs Stimulus

The Political Future of Economic Recovery

Robert Skidelsky, Nicolò Fraccaroli

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9783319504384
• eBook ISBN:
  9783319504391
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

This timely book debates the economic and political logic of the austerity policies that have been implemented in the UK and in the Eurozone since 2010 and asks whether there is any alternative for these countries in the years ahead. The work reconsiders the austerity versus stimulus debate through the voices of those who proposed the successful idea of expansionary austerity and those who opposed it. The editors have brought together a collection of articles written by some of the most notable figures in the discipline, including the likes of Alberto Alesina, Ken Rogoff, Tim Besley, David Graeber, Vince Cable, and Paul Krugman. The book also features the debate between Niall Ferguson and Robert Skidelsky. These leading thinkers unveil a world where economists are far from agreeing on economic policy, and where politics often dominates the discussion. The question of whether the British government should have opted for austerity runs through the book, as well as how sustained economic recovery should be encouraged in the future. Scholars, students and members of the general public with an interest in the financial crisis and its lingering aftermath will find this work invaluable.

Table of contents

• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Introduction
• Part I The Politics of the Debate
• Austerity in the Tension Between Capitalism and Democracy
• Part II The Two Sides of the Debate
• Keynes Vs Hayek
• Contemporary Arguments for Austerity
• Contemporary Arguments for Stimulus
• Part III Confidence: The Object of the Debate
• Austerity: A Solution to Restore Markets’ Confidence
• Myths of Austerity
• Debating the Confidence Fairy
• Confidence in the UK Is Different from the One in the Eurozone
• Confidence Beyond Debt: The Role of Monetary Policy
• Schizophrenic Confidence?
• Part IV Austerity vs Stimulus in the UK
• Austerity for the UK
• Stimulus for the UK
• “Keynesian Austerity”
• Britain’s Confidence
• The Economic Consequences of Mr. Osborne
• Niall Ferguson’s Wishful Thinking
• More Keynesian Than Keynes
• A Final Word with Ferguson
• A Stimulus Policy for the UK
• Part V What’s Next?
• The Economics of Debt
• George Osborne’s Economics: Austerity in the UK
• Conservatives and Keynes
• The Political Power of Austerity
• List of Suggested Readings
• Index