The move to cut public services has gained more speed. Prime Minister Harper has now praised the (savage) cuts the new British government is proposing and has called it a model for the G20 (which subsequently agreed to pursue deficit reduction). Harper, in effect, is joining a growing movement in European counties to move away from the policy of public sector spending to stimulate the economy and towards a policy of public sector cuts to reduce government deficits. Notably, other ruling circles believe that the world economy is still in danger of falling into a second recession and that the private sector still needs a public sector stimulus. Obama falls into this camp, but he is less and less able to deliver the goods, with more and more resistance in Congress. More successfully, China is spending $123 billion to expand public health care insurance and its economy (like much of the rest of the developing world) is growing strongly. How this will pay out is unclear, at least
Notes from Leftwords -- Doug Allan