Fiscal Policy

This is Part 6 of the short series of briefing notes that arose out of discussions I recently had in London about how a progressive political party might want to break out of the shackles that the British Labour Party has bound itself in with its obsession with fiscal rules and an adherence to the…

This is Part 7 of the short series of briefing notes that arose out of discussions I recently had in London about how a progressive political party might want to break out of the shackles that the British Labour Party has bound itself in with its obsession with fiscal rules and an adherence to the…

Most of the examples of fiscal austerity leave one puzzled as a result of the sheer myopia that is usually present – the ‘save a penny today to spend a dollar tomorrow’ sort of nonsense that history tells us repeats when governments try to reduce spending in areas that it should not. But sometimes one…

The biographer of Keynes in three volumes – Robert Skidelsky – died on April 15, 2026 at the age of 84. As I explain below, Skidelsky was what we consider to be a mainstream ‘deficit dove’, who are Keynesian and Post Keynesian economists that are comfortable with using fiscal deficits to increase economic activity when…

I read a new Report this morning – Waste Not – that was published by a new unit in Britain called Verdant, which seems to have links to the England and Wales Green Party. The work is interesting and raises several issues that bear on how government fiscal policy should be assessed. The issues I…

This is Part 5 of the short series of briefing notes that arose out of discussions I recently had in London about how a progressive political party might want to break out of the shackles that the British Labour Party has bound itself in with its obsession with fiscal rules and an adherence to the…

This is the second part of a short series of briefing notes that arose out of discussions I had in London the week before last about how a progressive political party might want to break out of the shackles that the Labour Party has bound itself in with its obsession with fiscal rules and an…

This is Part 3 of the short series of briefing notes that arose out of discussions I recently had in London about how a progressive political party might want to break out of the shackles that the Labour Party has bound itself in with its obsession with fiscal rules and an adherence to the fiscal…

This is Part 4 of the short series of briefing notes that arose out of discussions I recently had in London about how a progressive political party might want to break out of the shackles that the British Labour Party has bound itself in with its obsession with fiscal rules and an adherence to the…

I am stuck in London courtesy of the terrorist policies of Donald Trump and his Israeli gang mates. I arrived at Heathrow on Saturday expecting to be home by last evening only to learn that all flights via Doha were indefinitely suspended. Big problem. I was lucky to find a hotel room at the airport…