The UK goes austerity crazy

David Cameron's new government annouced a nearly 20% budget cut today. Exactly why a country that controls its own currency would need to go this route is really beyond me. Especially when it seems like the world is about to embark on a money-printing bonanza.

Does this picture look like an economy on the brink to you?



For economists everywhere, this will be a real boon, since it will let us compare austerity vs stimulus to see what the right approach is.

My guess is that creating nearly 500,000 new unemployed people will not do much to improve the economy.

The only bright side is that education and science funding was relatively untouched, and military spending was the biggest loser.

I'm happy that Spain has taken a middle-of-the-road approach in term of cuts.