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The Austerity Decade 2010-20

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2020

Isabel Ortiz  and
Matthew Cummins
Isabel Ortiz
Affiliation:
Global Social Justice Program, Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Columbia University, US E-mail: [email protected]
Matthew Cummins
Affiliation:
UNDP, UNICEF, World Bank E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

In the wake of the financial, food and fuel crises, a fourth ‘F’ shockwave hit the global economy in 2010: fiscal adjustment. It would mark the onset of a prolonged period of budget cuts that is now projected to continue at least through 2020 in high-income and developing countries alike. This article: (i) examines International Monetary Fund (IMF) government spending projections for 187 countries from 2005 to 2020, indicating a decade of austerity from 2010 onwards; (ii) reviews 616 IMF country reports in 183 countries to identify the main adjustment measures; and (iii) discusses the negative impacts of austerity on jobs and welfare, pointing to alternative policies to identify fiscal space for equitable and sustainable development. Note that this analysis was done prior to COVID-19, and the estimates for 2019 and 2020 reflect pre-pandemic projections.

Keywords

Austerityfinancial crisisfiscal adjustmentsustainable development
Type
Themed Section: A Hostile Decade for Social Policy: Economic Crisis, Political Crisis and Austerity 2010-20
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , January 2021 , pp. 142 - 157
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2021

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