Urgently Needed Deficit Financing No Excuse for More Fiscal Abuse

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Anis ChowdhuryKUALA LUMPUR and SYDNEY, Dec 8 2020 (IPS) Fiscal and monetary measures needed to fight the economic downturn, largely due to COVID-19 policy responses, require more government accountability and discipline to minimise abuse. Such measures should ensure relief for the vulnerable, prevent recessions from becoming depressions, and restore progress. Jomo Kwame SundaramThey should help the most helpless, especially in the informal sector and casual employment. Efforts should also seek to accelerate structural transformation towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Progress was already falling behind before the pandemic, e.g., on mitigating global warming. Unconventional measures The pandemic and policy responses have created a most unusual situation, demanding extraordinary policy responses to mitigate threats to livelihoods and incomes. Bold initiatives are needed to overcome obstacles to sustainable development. Unconventional solutions need to be considered as the conventional wisdom is part of the problem, especially since the neoliberal counter-revolution against Keynesian and development economics four decades ago. In recent decades, counter-cyclical fiscal policies over business cycles have been replaced by annually ‘balanced budgets’ and ‘fiscal consolidation’. This has involved spending cuts for public, including social services, and social protection more broadly. Taxation has become more regressive, with lowe...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Climate Change Development & Aid Economy & Trade Financial Crisis Global Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Inequity Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Jomo Kwame Sundaram & Anis Chowdhury Source Type: news