The rich world faces a brutal spending crunch
Countries including America, Britain and France are up against remorseless fiscal logic
A decade ago finance ministries were gripped by austerity fever. Governments were doing all they could to cut budget deficits, even with unemployment high and economic growth weak. Today things are very different. Across the West, most economies are in better shape. People have jobs. Corporate-profit growth is strong. And yet governments are spending a lot more than they are taking in.
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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Fantasy economics”
Finance & economics April 13th 2024
- The rich world faces a brutal spending crunch
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- Would America dare to bring down a Chinese bank?
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- China’s state is eating the private property market
- How fast is India’s economy really growing?
- What China’s central bank and Costco shoppers have in common
- What will humans do if technology solves everything?
From the April 13th 2024 edition
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Trump wastes no time in reigniting trade wars
Canada and Mexico look likely to suffer
How Trump, Starmer and Macron can avoid a debt crunch
With deficits soaring, their finance ministers will have to be smart
What Scott Bessent’s appointment means for the Trump administration
The president-elect’s nominee for treasury secretary faces a gruelling job
What Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders get wrong about credit cards
Forget interest rates. Rewards are the real problem
Computers unleashed economic growth. Will artificial intelligence?
Two years after ChatGPT-3.5 arrived, progress has been slower than expected
Should investors just give up on stocks outside America?
No, but it is getting a lot harder to keep the faith