Hassett: U.K. Takes Medicine, Greece Doesn't

Kevin Hassett

From Bloomberg - The best medicine can taste awful. The governments of the U.K., Ireland and Greece have embarked upon ambitious, sometimes painful efforts to restore their economies to sustainable growth paths. Of the three, the U.K. and Ireland took their medicine, following the lessons of past efforts to pull national economies away from spiraling debt. Greece decided the taste was just too awful, and its irresponsibility threatens every euro-zone country. 

Greek Parthenon

The history of the modern welfare state is replete with examples of fiscal calamities. In good times, politicians expand government spending as far as soaring revenues will let them. In bad times, when the bubble bursts, countries find themselves in a ditch. Numerous fixes have been tried over the years, and economists have created a cottage industry studying them. What has emerged is a consensus about what works, a consensus that is about as strong as any in the macroeconomics literature. Read full column here:

Hassett: U.K. Takes Medicine, Greece Doesn't