Impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the budget deficits of advanced economies are projected to reach 15 percent of GDP on average this year. Debt, already high, is set to increase by more than 20 percent of GDP. What can and should be done to fix public finances after the pandemic is over? The last thing […]
To mark the publication today of Bigger Government: The Future of Government Expenditure in Advanced Economies, I am releasing a two episode podcast. The podcast is can be heard by clicking on this link, or may be heard on any of the main podcast directories (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox, Stitcher, Listen Notes etc). Episode 1 […]
In many advanced countries, the parlous condition of public hospitals – due largely to inadequate funding – has been thrown into sharp relief by the coronavirus crisis. The United States, France and the United Kingdom are extreme examples. In these and other countries, many public hospitals were grossly stressed even before the pandemic, with patients […]
There are many who think that income support – welfare benefits such as unemployment benefits, income supplements and tax credits for the working poor, and child benefits – is a key area where governments will be compelled to spend much more over coming decades. They consider that changes in the way the economy works will […]
By far the most important reason why government expenditure can be expected to increase greatly over coming decades is growing health expenditure. There are strong grounds to expect that government health expenditure will grow by at least 4 percent of GDP in all advanced nations in the period up to 2050. Although everyone is conscious […]
Government spending has dramatically increased everywhere in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the savage recession which it has triggered. In the wake of this, the debate about the size of the state has gained new urgency. However, nearly all of the spending is – and should be – purely temporary. The much more important […]