Abstract
After the economic instability of the 1970s, most countries embraced neoliberal reforms popularised by Thatcher and Reagan in the 1980s. Macroeconomic policy privileged monetarism as central banks were granted independence in the 1990s. Fiscal rules were devised as political attention shifted to growing debt levels and budget deficits. Balancing budgets was the initial aim, with constitutional amendments proposed in the USA, and constitutional change in Germany, yet neither country has a good record. Australia, New Zealand and Sweden have been more successful, such that producing consistently large surpluses became the goal. The size of the debt, deficit or surplus has become proxy accountability measures of the government’s financial management, and single fiscal years have become the primary unit of analysis rather than the economic cycle.
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Brenton, S. (2016). The Path Towards Surplus. In: The Politics of Budgetary Surplus. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58597-4_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58597-4_1
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