2 Fiscal policies, social spending and economic performance in France, Germany and the UK since 1970 Norman Flynn Introduction This chapter looks at the post-1970 development of social policy, its fiscal implications and economic consequences in three European countries. Its purpose is to test a stereotypical ‘left’ proposition, formulated in defence of European social democracy against neo-liberalism, such as: There is a ‘European Social Model’, incorporating a high level of social protection for unemployment and retirement, which, since 1973, has been
This book considers the underlying causes of the end of social democracy's golden age. It argues that the cross-national trend in social democratic parties since the 1970s has been towards an accommodation with neo-liberalism and a corresponding dilution of traditional social democratic commitments. The book looks at the impact of the change in economic conditions on social democracy in general, before examining the specific cases of Germany, Sweden and Australia. It examines the ideological crisis that engulfed social democracy. The book also looks at the post-1970 development of social policy, its fiscal implications and economic consequences in three European countries. It considers the evolution of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) from its re-emergence as a significant political force during the 1970s until the present day under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The book also examines the evolution of the Swedish model in conjunction with social democratic reformism and the party's relations to the union movement. It explores the latest debate about what the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) stands for. The SPD became the role model for programmatic modernisation for the European centre-left. The book considers how British socialist and social democratic thought from the late nineteenth century to the present has treated the objective of helping people to fulfil their potential, talents and ambitions. It aims to contribute to a broader conversation about the future of social democracy by considering ways in which the political thought of 'third way' social democracy might be radicalised for the twenty-first century.
public investment reserved for fiscal policy M1738 - CALLAGHAN TEXT.indd 75 3/8/09 12:13:34 76 Responses to the crisis within Keynesianism is not ‘ruled out’ by the new global economy. Rather, globalisation requires new institutions and prerequisites in order to secure credibility with financial markets, thence to exploit the policy space available to pursue the politics of social democracy. Securing credibility through stability-centric macro policy stances is compatible with a wide range of different priorities in other areas of economic policy. Arguably, the
macroeconomic environment through restrictive fiscal policy, stable exchange rates and so on.3 On this basis, economists cite the Irish case to support the orthodoxy of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the OECD and other international bodies that favour macroeconomic stability over all other social and economic policy variables. The new orthodoxy as the EU enters into a phase of enlargement is to convince the accession countries that they will converge if they maximise the openness of their trade, get the macroeconomics right and encourage labour flexibility. Mainstream
brings to the understanding of the labour alliance, can share with the pluralists some tendencies to what are here being termed monolithism and bipolarism, and a focus on industrial policy that underestimates the significance of sectoral divisions over fiscal policy within the alliance for both unions–government and unions–party relations. The last but one Labour Government To put into historical context the criticisms made above, the focus of this chapter is the decade after 1974, not because the criticisms are applicable only to this period, but because this was when
of consumer confidence and underlying problems with the financial system. While the Japanese government has the resources to introduce another fiscal stimulus plan, given the high level of public debt, at 125 per cent of GDP, there is little scope for reflationary fiscal policies. Indeed, given Prime Minister Koizumi’s plans to curb government spending, the economy is not likely to be stimulated by fiscal policy. Japan is therefore unlikely to provide much support to the regional economies this year through demand for their exports. Although it is expected that the
, fiscal policies and social spending regimes in France, Germany and the United Kingdom since 1970 in an attempt to determine how far the so-called ‘European social model’ has survived in the face of economic and demographic pressures and whether less generous social spending can be correlated with stronger economic growth. Although Flynn finds all three economies to have been placed under significant fiscal strain, he also finds that there have been diverse national responses to these pressures and argues that broadly social democratic institutions have been
democratically governed is a coherent national society, and that the democratic state by its very nature is (or should be) an expression of that society if it is to be stable, effective and legitimate. 90 DISCIPLINES Furthermore, the state in a globalizing context, while increasingly constrained in pursuing certain kinds of collective goods (macroeconomic management, social welfare, fiscal policy, control of the money supply and exchange rate policy, trade and industrial policy are just some possible examples) also possesses a range of roles that contribute to globalization
argued that, by lowering the level of taxation, and by increasing government spending, the overall level of aggregate demand would rise. Even if the policy led to government debt, it could still be justified by the positive economic results. Future generations would be able to pay off the debts out of the increased prosperity which his policies would bring. His ideas became known as demand management, underpinned by active fiscal policy. The classical economists were sceptical, but by the 1940s Keynes’ policies had won the day. The consensus in action For the sake of
significant voice raised in opposition. The IMF was tacitly welcomed as savior.” On August 14, 1997, after Thailand signed its first letter of intent with the IMF, the Thai government (now led by Chaiyawat Wibulswasdi, who was installed as BOT governor after Rerngchai resigned on July 29), and the IMF announced mutually agreed economic adjustment programs, which included tight monetary and fiscal policies and financial sector restructuring.44 On August 20, 1997 the IMF’s Executive Board approved a 3-year stand-by arrangement totaling US$17.2 billion with Thailand. Of the total