The following has been supplied by PCS HQ:
Mehdi Hasan is a prolific tweeter, blogger and writer, and the senior political editor of the New Statesman. His latest the book is entitled The Debt Delusion.
This short book takes aim at 10 myths perpetuated by the coalition about the debt and the deficit – and what remedies are most effective to reduce the debt, close the deficit and get the economy growing again.
One of the most alluring arguments deployed by the prime minister and the chancellor has been their equating of the national debt with a credit card, accusing Labour of “maxing out the nation's credit card”. But, as Hasan points out: “Governments can increase their revenues by raising taxes; households cannot. Governments can print money and issue currency; households cannot.”
The book also puts its case with some indisputable facts and statistics: like how there are only two cases out of 15 studied by the International Monetary Fund when cuts preceded economic growth.
There is also an interesting international comparison demonstrating that in 2009 the UK took less as a proportion in tax than Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Germany – and yet George Osborne’s first move as chancellor was to cut business taxes but raise VAT.
The conclusion is straightforward: the government’s economic policy “is part of a political and ideological project to roll back the frontiers of the state”. As Hasan says: “The debt is just a distraction.”
