I think that this one graph shows what is wrong with austerity. The deficit is not just about government income – it is about the difference between income and expenditure. The massive cuts that the Conservative government has imposed has decreased government expenditure, but has a very big negative effect on the economy and hence government income.

One way to deal with the deficit is to ignore it or even increase government expenditure to boost the economy – Roosevelt’s New Deal or the UK after WW2. The World Economic Forum now ranks the ‘Macroeconomic environment’ of the UK as 108 out of 140 – below Haiti, Zimbabwe and Liberia².

I have written more about debt here.

There are also some videos on austerity and debt on the Lowestoft Against The Cuts website³.

¹ UK Central Government Finances, Economic Research Council – (http://www.ercouncil.org/chart-of-the-week/week-11-2015-uk-central-government-finances.html)

² Competitive Rankings, World Economic Forum Outlook 2015-2016 (http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2015-2016/competitiveness-rankings/)

³ Lowestoft Against The Cuts – Videos (http://www.lowestoftagainstthecuts.org.uk/videos/)