FEDERALISM AND FEDERAL DEFICIT REDUCTION

This chapter describes the long 2010–15 fiscal squeeze under the first Conservative–Liberal coalition since the early 1920s, in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis and with debt and deficit at levels not seen for four decades or more. It included sharp political debate over timing, depth, and tax/spending balance of fiscal squeeze, with most of the coalition squeeze based on its Labour predecessor’s plans, and the deficit reduction outcome roughly the same as those Labour plans, principally because of shortfall on the revenue side. This episode was marked by a repeat of ‘bear trap’ tactics by the incumbents, and the post-squeeze 2015 election rewarded one party in the coalition, while the other party was heavily punished and so was the Labour Opposition. How far the victory of ‘Vote Leave’ (Brexit) in the 2016 referendum on UK membership of the EU can be attributed to fiscal squeeze is debatable.

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UK Fiscal Squeezes over a Century

10.1093/oso/9780198779612.003.0002 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Christopher Hood ◽

Rozana Himaz

Keyword(s):

Data Sources ◽

Fiscal Consolidation ◽

Financial Outcomes ◽

Financial Conditions ◽

Deficit Reduction ◽

Before And After ◽

The Uk ◽

Changes Over Time ◽

Spending Cuts ◽

Over Time

This chapter draws on historical statistics reporting financial outcomes for spending, taxation, debt, and deficit for the UK over a century to (a) identify quantitatively and compare the main fiscal squeeze episodes (i.e. major revenue increases, spending cuts, or both) in terms of type (soft squeezes and hard squeezes, spending squeezes, and revenue squeezes), depth, and length; (b) compare these periods of austerity against measures of fiscal consolidation in terms of deficit reduction; and (c) identify economic and financial conditions before and after the various squeezes. It explores the extent to which the identification of squeeze episodes and their classification is sensitive to which thresholds are set and what data sources are used. The chapter identifies major changes over time that emerge from this analysis over the changing depth and types of squeeze.

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The Sequencing of Deficit Reduction and Disinflation in Canada

Canadian Public Policy ◽

10.2307/3552214 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 28 (4) ◽

pp. 547

Author(s):

David W. Baar

Keyword(s):

Deficit Reduction

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Asymmetric Interest Group Mobilization and Party Coalitions in U.S. Tax Politics

Studies in American Political Development ◽

10.1017/s0898588x15000085 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 235-249 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Alexander Hertel-Fernandez ◽

Theda Skocpol

Keyword(s):

Small Business ◽

Democratic Party ◽

Small Business Owners ◽

Washington Dc ◽

Business Organizations ◽

Public Programs ◽

Deficit Reduction ◽

Group Mobilization ◽

National Tax ◽

Tax Cuts

Arguments about national tax policy have taken center stage in U.S. politics in recent times, creating acute dilemmas for Democrats. With Republicans locked into antitax agendas for some time, Democrats have recently begun to push back, arguing for maintaining or even increasing taxes on the very wealthy in the name of deficit reduction and the need to sustain funding for public programs. But the Democratic Party as a whole has not been able to find a consistent voice on tax issues. It experienced key defections when large, upward-tilting tax cuts were enacted under President George W. Bush, and the Democratic Party could not control the agenda on debates over continuing those tax cuts even when it enjoyed unified control in Washington, DC, in 2009 and 2010. To explain these cleavages among Democrats, we examine growing pressures from small business owners, a key antitax constituency. We show that organizations claiming to speak for small business have become more active in tax politics in recent decades, and we track the ways in which constituency pressures have been enhanced by feedbacks from federal tax rules that encourage individuals to pass high incomes through legal preferences for the self-employed. Comparing debates over the inception and renewal of the Bush tax cuts, we show how small business organizations and constituencies have divided Democrats on tax issues. Our findings pinpoint the mechanisms that have propelled tax resistance in contemporary U.S. politics, and our analysis contributes to theoretical understandings of the ways in which political parties are influenced by policy feedbacks and by coalitions of policy-driven organized economic interests.

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The Arguments against a National Health Program: Science or Ideology?

International Journal of Health Services ◽

10.2190/7vcp-eg5g-13g5-g05r ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 179-189 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Vicente Navarro

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

National Health ◽

Health Program ◽

Health Expenditures ◽

The United States ◽

Federal Deficit ◽

Rate Of Growth ◽

Empirical Information ◽

Universal Health ◽

Program Science

This article provides empirical information that questions some of the major arguments put forward against the establishment of a comprehensive and universal health program in the United States. The positions that (1) “Americans do not want a further expansion of government roles in their lives,” (2) “a National Health Program would further increase the rate of growth of health expenditures,” (3) “the federal deficit is too large and needs to be reduced before establishing a National Health Program,” and (4) “people do not want to pay higher taxes,” are shown to be ideological rather than scientific. The author presents evidence that questions each of these assumptions.

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