British style budget cuts here?

[futurebeachbum]

The Brits are making massive budget cuts. From this CSM article : British budget cuts: two big lessons for America

British budget cuts unveiled today are the most severe in decades, promising to eliminate the country?s deficit in five years.
...
They?re cutting almost 500,000 public-sector jobs and slashing spending at government agencies by an average of 19 percent.

Whether they actually will work or just collapse the UK's economy is an interesting question.

The article points out that there are probably math errors and other mistakes in the plan but it also recognizes that there are no sacred cows and cuts were across the board. That is a major accomplishment.

The two lessons the article title references are:

First, it?s clear that where there?s political will, there?s a political way ? even on a subject as contentious as reducing government spending.
....
The second lesson is the strategy of the cuts themselves: a certain fairness in how they?re distributed, but with an eye toward increased spending for national priorities and competitiveness.

I really like both points, but I can't see either working here.

I guess they have a much higher percentage of ethical and honest politicians who aren't owned by special interests in the UK government than we have here. (Of course I think the percentage here is approaching 0 but that's a separate discussion.)

I can't think of a single law passed here where our politicians actually took a difficult stand to do what's right, Our politicians track record is pretty much just passing laws that were specifically funded by and designed to benefit the special interests that they serve.

Based on that, the article's hopes not-withstanding, I'd put our chance at achieving reasoned, equitable cuts and a balanced budget anytime soon at almost nil.

 

[Matt J]

So we don't want a socialist president, or socialist programs, but we'll follow their blind, and incredibly stupid, budget cutting ideas?

Where exactly are those freshly unemployed 500,000 people going to find work and whats to keep them from jumping on the dole?

 

[30ashopper]

Policymakers are divided as to whether government expansion helps or hinders economic growth. Advocates of bigger government argue that government programs provide valuable "public goods" such as education and infrastructure. They also claim that increases in government spending can bolster economic growth by putting money into people's pockets.

Proponents of smaller government have the opposite view. They explain that government is too big and that higher spending undermines economic growth by transferring additional resources from the productive sector of the economy to government, which uses them less efficiently. They also warn that an expanding public sector complicates efforts to implement pro-growth policies-such as fundamental tax reform and personal retirement accounts- because critics can use the existence of budget deficits as a reason to oppose policies that would strengthen the economy.

Which side is right?

This paper evaluates the impact of government spending on economic performance. It discusses the theoretical arguments, reviews the international evidence, highlights the latest academic research, cites examples of countries that have significantly reduced government spending as a share of national economic output, and analyzes the economic consequences of those reforms.

The Impact of Government Spending on Economic Growth | The Heritage Foundation