Overview
Enables students and scholars of political economy to examine Britain's Coalition austerity programme in the context of the politics of welfare, British and European Politics
Exhaustively considers the external factors that knocked the government’s original targets off course
Assesses the future implications of deficit reduction policy with austerity
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Table of contents (13 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Austerity in the UK
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Front Matter
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Global Experiences of Austerity
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This book considers the relationship between public spending and public deficit and the varying successes and difficulties governments have had in recent years to balance the two. As the fiscal crash of 2007/8 turned into the Great Recession and tax revenues tumbled, public finances across the UK, the USA and Europe plunged into deficit. Controversial attempts by governments to balance their budgets, commonly described as austerity by critics, had mixed success, politically and economically. Michael Burton outlines how politicians tackled the worst economic downturn in over half a century, drawing on previous examples of deficit-reduction to see how governments managed public finances in recessions and where austerity worked and where it failed. This two-part book, which for the first time provides an historical context to austerity, analyses firstly deficit-reduction in the UK in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2010-2016, and then looks at case studies in Europe, the USA, Canada and Asia Pacific. The author concludes that with the ageing population placing greater pressure through health and pensions on the public finances of the developed world, politicians and their electorates will have to learn to live long-term with austerity.
Reviews
“This book covers the crucial challenge of governments, namely managing public finances during recessions, which is one of the key policy problems of our age.” (Rob Whiteman FCPFA, Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, UK)
“This is an excellent and readable overview of how governments in the UK have controlled spending in recent decades, and what happened in the run up to the recession and since. By comparing the UK’s experience with that of other countries it is a valuable addition to our understanding. It deserves to be widely read.” (Paul Johnson, Director, Institute for Fiscal Studies, UK)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Politics of Austerity
Book Subtitle: A Recent History
Authors: Michael Burton
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-48285-3
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-48629-5Published: 21 October 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-69524-9Published: 26 January 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-48285-3Published: 12 October 2016
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 215
Topics: International Political Economy, Political History, Public Policy