Richard Layard discusses his ‘Manifesto for Economic Sense’, co-authored with with
Paul Krugman, which argues that fiscal deficits are due to stagnation,
and that further austerity to reduce deficits will only slow down the
recovery.
Thousands of economists disagree with the austerity policies being
followed in so many countries. Yet few speak out and I am one of the
guilty ones. That is why Paul Krugman and I have now written a
‘Manifesto for Economic Sense’ which is reprinted below. We hope this
will be signed by thousands of economists. More importantly, we hope
that they will use the arguments in the Manifesto to engage in vigorous
debate worldwide about how to emerge from the current stagnation.
