The economic legacy of Mr Brown
Everybody would like to blame Gordon Brown for the financial crisis. But he was only acting in line with the national consensus on economic policy, says Martin Wolf
View ArticleEurozone plays 'beggar my neighbour'
Despite today’s gloom and doom, the eurozone will probably survive. But the view that everything would now be fine had fiscal rules been followed is wrong. The private sector’s irresponsibility was...
View ArticleThe grasshoppers and the ants – a modern fable
Today’s global economy is more complex than Aesop could have imagined. What would be the moral of a contemporary version of his famous story where the “ants” are Germans, Chinese and Japanese, while...
View ArticleSpare Britain the policy hair shirt
The OECD seems to take the view that they only big risk is a loss of fiscal and monetary ‘credibility’. But Martin Wolf argues a lengthy floundering economy is a more serious risk
View ArticleAn ABC of financial shocks and fiscal aftershocks
‘If the forecasts are true,’ asked Bobby, ‘why do all these people talk about ‘instability’? Martin Wolf responds
View ArticleThe grasshoppers and the ants – elucidating the fable
Flows of finance from export-driven ant nests to advanced grasshopper colonies end in tears. Flows of finance from old ant nests to young ones have not worked out either, says Martin Wolf
View ArticleFear must not blind us to deflation's dangers
A consensus is forming that policymakers in countries with large fiscal deficits should tighten fiscal policy sharply – but what makes them sure that business and consumers will spend in response to...
View ArticleA question for chancellor Osborne
Congratulations, Mr Osborne, on "hitting the ground running". You have made good decisions already. So far, so good. But here is my question: what is your "plan B"? , asks Martin Wolf
View ArticleWhy plans for early fiscal tightening carry global risks
Yet again, we hear the cry of the old economic religion: repent before it is too late; the wages of fiscal sin is death. But is it already time to retrench? I doubt it, says Martin Wolf
View ArticleWhy it is right for central banks to keep printing
At present, we have ‘too little money chasing too many goods’. In this environment, monetary policy must be aggressive. When the economy recovers, the monetary effects should be withdrawn, says Martin...
View ArticleA bloodbath none was prepared for
Perhaps only a young government – in age and in time in office – would gamble so much on such a fast adjustment, says Martin Wolf
View ArticleThe risks of Osborne’s pre-emptive strike
The balance of cuts that the chancellor has set out is unlikely to prove politically sustainable, let alone sensible, says Martin Wolf
View ArticleThis global game of ‘pass the parcel’ cannot end well
Was the summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in Canada over the weekend a step forward towards co-operation or a step backwards towards disagreement? The answer seems to be both.
View ArticleDemand shortfall casts doubt on early austerity
Rapid cuts in fiscal support make sense if, and only if, monetary policy can be effective on its own and expanding the interest-elastic parts of the economy is the best way to climb out of the hole,...
View ArticleWhy we must halt the land cycle
Ruinous trust in land speculation as the route to wealth has led to expensive houses and inefficient taxes but, far worse, it ended up destabilising the entire global economy, says Martin Wolf
View ArticleThree years and new fault lines threaten
Leaders of the world’s principal economies – both advanced and emerging – will need to reform co-operatively and deeply if the world economy is not to suffer further earthquakes, says Martin Wolf
View ArticleWhy the battle is joined over tightening
The austerity debate: To tighten or not to tighten – that is the question. It is one to which policymakers have started changing their answers. Are they right to do so?, asks Martin Wolf
View ArticleWhy Britain does not need a graduate tax
One big drawback is that it would again put allocation of funds under the control of the state, says Martin Wolf
View ArticleObama was too cautious in fearful times
The idea that the policies adopted in the last few months of the Bush administration and the first months of this one were far better than nothing is weirdly controversial in the US, says Martin Wolf
View ArticleWhy the Balls critique is correct
The market is screaming its lack of concern about UK fiscal credibility. Government debt is long-term and denominated in the domestic currency. We are terrified of a confidence bogey who is asleep,...
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