Fiscal Austerity Programs in Comparative-Historical Perspective

Dan Gross:

The New Global Politics of Deficit Reduction: If British voters thought they had replaced the dour visage of Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown with an optimistic one in fresh-faced Tory David Cameron, they were sadly mistaken. On June 7, the 43-year-old Cameron brought down the hammer, telling the British public that the most urgent issue ahead “is our massive deficit and our growing debt.... Tony Blair’s motto was “Cool Britannia.” Cameron’s is likely to be “Austerity Now!”

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