The IMF, the UK Policy Debate, and Debt and Deficit Discourse

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Clift
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Fiscal Consolidation ◽  
Policy Space ◽  
Fiscal Multipliers ◽  
Scientific Image ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Deep Recession ◽  
The Imf

This chapter charts changing character of the economic ideas informing fiscal policymaking in Britain, and Fund responses to them. Drawing on interviews with the Fund’s UK Missions and UK authorities, it shows how, despite the IMF’s prizing of its non-political, scientific image, its differing views of UK policy space and prioritization became the stuff of a contested politics. The central assumption of the coalition government’s construction of fiscal rectitude was that Britain faced a ‘crisis of debt’, yet the IMF did not share this view. Fund work on fiscal multipliers being higher during recessions, and the adverse effects of fiscal consolidation on growth, all had pointed relevance for UK policy. The coalition government saw little potential for activist fiscal policy in support of growth. In 2013 Blanchard accused the UK authorities of ‘playing with fire’ by pursuing excessively harsh austerity which threatened a prolonged and deep recession.

The Macroeconomic Record of the Coalition Government

2015 ◽  
Vol 231 ◽  
pp. R5-R16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Wren-Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Gdp Growth ◽  
Eurozone Crisis ◽  
Fiscal Consolidation ◽  
Liquidity Trap ◽  
Liberal Democrats ◽  
The Uk

This paper examines the outcomes for changes introduced by the UK Coalition government in 2010. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is generally regarded as a success, and should become a permanent part of fiscal policymaking. The form of the primary fiscal mandate, involving a five-year rolling target, appears to be a sensible way to shape fiscal decisions when monetary policy is able to stabilise the economy. Unfortunately it was introduced, along with a five-year programme of severe fiscal consolidation (austerity), while the economy was in a liquidity trap. The OBR estimates austerity reduced GDP growth by 1 per cent in both 2010–11 and 2011–12, and monetary policy was unable to offset this. For the Liberal Democrats a misreading of the Eurozone crisis may have been responsible for this mistake, but for the Conservatives this mistake appears to derive from an unconventional view that the liquidity trap is unimportant.

The Fund’s Fiscal Policy Views and the Politics of Austerity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Clift
Keyword(s):  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Fiscal Consolidation ◽  
Advanced Economy ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Scientific Reputation ◽  
Fiscal Space ◽  
Economic Stabilization ◽  
The Imf

This chapter drills down into IMF/advanced economy government interactions and Fund efforts to influence the international economic policy debate during the Great Recession. It situates Fund thinking within the wider politics of austerity, charting how the Fund’s post-crash views on fiscal policy efficacy and economic stabilization were increasingly at odds with other key European players. The IMF mobilized its knowledge bank and scientific reputation to correct what key Fund figures saw as mistaken premises of austerity policies. Notably, the IMF counselled against precipitate exit from stimulus, debunked the notion that fiscal consolidation is in itself ‘growth friendly’, underlined that fiscal consolidation can be self-defeating, and, as the recession drew on, advised further counter-cyclical fiscal policy interventions to support the recovery. The Fund’s empirically backed policy advice advocated a ‘less now, more later’ approach to consolidation by countries with fiscal space.

UK Fiscal Squeezes over a Century

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Hood ◽  
Rozana Himaz
Keyword(s):  
Data Sources ◽  
Fiscal Consolidation ◽  
Financial Outcomes ◽  
Financial Conditions ◽  
Deficit Reduction ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Changes Over Time ◽  
Spending Cuts ◽  
Over Time

This chapter draws on historical statistics reporting financial outcomes for spending, taxation, debt, and deficit for the UK over a century to (a) identify quantitatively and compare the main fiscal squeeze episodes (i.e. major revenue increases, spending cuts, or both) in terms of type (soft squeezes and hard squeezes, spending squeezes, and revenue squeezes), depth, and length; (b) compare these periods of austerity against measures of fiscal consolidation in terms of deficit reduction; and (c) identify economic and financial conditions before and after the various squeezes. It explores the extent to which the identification of squeeze episodes and their classification is sensitive to which thresholds are set and what data sources are used. The chapter identifies major changes over time that emerge from this analysis over the changing depth and types of squeeze.

scholarly journals Young People’s Services in an Age of Neoliberalism

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-206
Author(s):  
Graham Brotherton ◽  
Christina Hyland ◽  
Iain Jones ◽  
Terry Potter
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Young People ◽  
Higher Education Policy ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Youth Services ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Way

Abstract This article brings together four different perspectives which explore the way in which various policy initiatives in recent years have sought to construct young people resident in the United Kingdom within particular policy discourses shaped by neoliberalism. In order to do this it firstly considers the way in which the assumptions of neoliberalism have increasingly been applied by the new Coalition Government to young people and the services provided for them; it then considers the particular role of New Labour in the UK in applying these ideas in practice. Specific examples from the areas of young people’s participation in youth services and higher education policy are then considered.

Public health: unchained or shackled?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Health System ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Health Gap ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
The Uk

As in the case of other parts of the UK wider health system, it has been a turbulent time for public health since 2010. Not only has the function undergone major structural and cultural change following its return to local government from the NHS, where it had been located since 1974, but it has had to confront new challenges in public health arising from lifestyle behaviours and a widening health gap between social groups. All of this has occurred during a period of unprecedented financial austerity affecting public services in general but local government in particular. This chapter reviews the state of public health in the lead up to the changes announced by the Coalition government in 2010. It then summarises the reforms before offering an interim assessment of their impact. Finally, it discusses the evidence to date concerning the reforms and speculates on likely prospects in the years ahead.

EIA SCREENING FOR CHANGES AND EXTENSIONS TO EXISTING PROJECTS: APPLYING AN EU PERSPECTIVE

2004 ◽  
Vol 06 (02) ◽  
pp. 177-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOE WESTON
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Wide Scope ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Local Planning ◽  
Growth Area ◽  
The Uk

Directive 97/11/EC, amending the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive (85/337/EEC), introduced a number of key changes to the procedures of EIA in the European Union (EU). One significant amendment was the introduction of a requirement for EIAs to be completed for "changes or extensions to Annex I or II projects that have already been authorised executed or are in the process of being executed and which are likely to have significant adverse effects on the environment (CEC, 1997). That requirement imposes a duty on competent authorities to screen all changes and extensions of Annex I and Annex II projects for the need for EIA. Applying legal and policy principles established in the European Union, the scope of what constitute relevant changes and extensions is very wide. Given this wide scope, it would be reasonable to assume that screening changes or extensions would have been a major growth area of EIA activity in the UK. However, evidence presented here indicates just the opposite and suggests that many local planning authorities are not fully aware of the full implications of this clause in the EIA Directive. Furthermore, for the full implications of the "changes and extensions" clause to be implemented in the UK may require further amendments to the EIA legislation.

The World Economy

1997 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 28-56
Author(s):  
Julian Morgan ◽  
Nigel Pain ◽  
Florence Hubert
Keyword(s):  
World Trade ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Fiscal Consolidation ◽  
The Third ◽  
The North ◽  
External Demand ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
World Economic ◽  
The Uk

There are now widespread signs that activity in the world economy has begun to recover steadily from the pause in growth apparent at the beginning of 1996. Output rose by 0.6 per cent in the North American economies in the third quarter of last year and by 0.8 per cent in Europe. Business and consumer sentiment has improved gradually in recent months in most of the major economies. We expect world economic growth to pick up further over the course of this year as the contractionary effects from the downturn in world trade and prolonged inventory adjustment come to an end and as the effects from a more relaxed monetary stance begin to outweigh those from ongoing fiscal consolidation. Recent currency movements should help to stimulate external demand in Germany, France and Japan, but may act to constrain growth within the UK, Italy and the US. For both this year and 1998 we expect growth of around 2½ per cent per annum in the OECD economies.

Deprescribing in mental health: pragmatic steps for a better quality of life

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 60-66
Author(s):  
Nana Tomova ◽  
Ami Hale ◽  
Michelle Kruschandl
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Chronic Conditions ◽  
Adverse Reactions ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Medication Reviews ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Specialist Pharmacist

Half of the UK population take at least one prescribed medicine, while a quarter take three or more. Polypharmacy has become increasingly common, with the average number of items prescribed per person per year in England having increased by 53.8% in the last decade. Patients are prescribed, and may continue taking, medicines that cause adverse effects and where the harm of the medicine outweighs the benefit. Adverse reactions to medicines are connected to 6.5% of hospital admissions. Patients admitted with one drug side effect are more than twice as likely to be admitted with another. Deprescribing is the optimisation of medication and is a vital part of improving outcomes, managing chronic conditions, and avoiding adverse effects. The goal of deprescribing is to lessen medication burden and enhance quality of life. This article presents case studies from clinical practice in a mental health service, and highlights the merits of specialist pharmacist-led interventions with respects to medication reviews and deprescribing.

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