Fred Day

Austerity in the UK Fred Day

This exposition is essentially both an assessment of economic policy and a review of economic theory, specifically: the 2010-15 Conservative and Liberal Democrats coalition government's austerity measures and their intellectual foundations. As such it primarily addresses four questions: a) How successful was this austerity, based on its own terms? b) to what extent was the coalition able to reduce the deficit? c) Why was deficit reduction prioritised? d) What economic and social outcomes have followed as a result?