Is austerity to blame for the 2011 London Riots.
With riots breaking out over London, some commentators are pinning the blame on David Cameron's austerity budgeting, arguing that it has cut needed social services in the areas currently afflicted with riots. Buttonwood at the Economist says it's not so simple:
The much-heralded cuts have only just started: public spending is still higher than it was a year ago. There has to be more doubt, this morning, about the ability of the government to see through five years of austerity and thus to justify the low bond yields on long-term debt. The temptation to buy off troubleâ??more money on police spending, youth employment programmesâ??will be high. The image of London round the world has suffered, something that will put off not only tourists but those who are considering buying the pound or UK government bonds. And, at a time when consumer confidence was already shaky, the images of unsafe streets will surely weigh on domestic activity, if only for a short while.
(As a side note, Buttonwood got to my preferred title for this post first, although I suspect he means this version and not the one I prefer.)
