Recent economic data from both the UK and US should have taken the wind out of the sails of those in the Anglosphere who – despite clearly contradictory evidence from mainland Europe – continue to argue that fiscal tightening is needed for economic growth is to recover.
The UK, which has followed a fiscal austerity path right from the election of the Conservative-Liberal coalition government in mid-2010, recorded a 0.3 per cent fall in the last quarter of 2012, while the US recorded a 0.1 per cent fall (mainly on the back of declining government expenditure). Getting the government sector out of the way and letting the private sector rip clearly isn’t going according to script, even when you can’t blame Brussels for the policy.
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