tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post7813289577704479162..comments2024-03-17T00:23:24.896-07:00Comments on Social Democracy for the 21st Century: A Realist Alternative to the Modern Left: What is “Austerity”?Lord Keyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-83270242151183715212015-08-25T15:07:46.685-07:002015-08-25T15:07:46.685-07:00So would a government cutting taxes & decreasi...So would a government cutting taxes & decreasing spending fall under definition 1?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10626495552225963987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-53594209940127572972015-06-30T09:56:43.836-07:002015-06-30T09:56:43.836-07:00Hmm. The first definition is redundant and therefo...Hmm. The first definition is redundant and therefore otiose, no? If it is just being used in a certain context as a synonym for contractionary we don't need it. Use contractionary. But we do need a word for the second. These seems a good way to distinguish, no? <br /><br />Of course I expect you have Austrians in your sights, and as we both know they spend most of their time tendentiously redefining words and then dcrying objections as semantics and nit-picking. "By perfect I *mean* as the result of property rights enforced by private cops ..."<br />Ken Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12976919713907046171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-21377089211639365202015-06-21T04:47:43.708-07:002015-06-21T04:47:43.708-07:00I propose another definition of austerity by the w...I propose another definition of austerity by the way. The idea of austerity is suffer now and you'll be richer tomorrow. This idea can lead to many different policies. Some of these policies may very well cause suffering in the future too, thus defeating the whole purpose.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-63684925246925571172015-06-21T04:44:21.283-07:002015-06-21T04:44:21.283-07:00LK, point 1 is supremely arrogant and dismissive. ...LK, point 1 is supremely arrogant and dismissive. In Sweden like in every civilized country there are different economists that advise the governments and i'm willing to bet not all of them are "Neoliberal".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-5421488496316842392015-06-21T04:09:52.995-07:002015-06-21T04:09:52.995-07:00(1) it is a matter of supreme indifference to me ...(1) it is a matter of supreme indifference to me what modern neoliberal governments of Sweden do. Governments should create full employment via Keynesian fiscal policy and direct employment programs as long as this is consistent with inflation and BOP constraints.<br /><br />(2) there are a lot of myths about "ultra liberal" Hong Kong, but in any case Hong Kong is an unusual small open city state, and it is hardly a country whose economic model can be generalised to the rest of the world.Lord Keyneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-28547686817531158612015-06-21T03:37:36.257-07:002015-06-21T03:37:36.257-07:00OK, that clears up the meaning of the word as it i...OK, that clears up the meaning of the word as it is used, but I still don't think it's a good use of the word. No mainstream economist would deny that government budgets should go into deficit during a recession. I remember Milton Friedman conceding this in one of his books for lay people.<br /><br />But social democratic Sweden aims for a budget surplus of 1% of GDP over the business cycle.<br /><br />http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/five-economic-lessons-from-sweden-the-rock-star-of-the-recovery/2011/06/21/AGyuJ3iH_story.html<br /><br />And ultra-liberal Hong Kong has virtually no public debt at all.<br /><br />These are both thriving economies, in their different ways.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com