The debate about austerity – and the relationship between public deficits, national debts and growth – has missed a crucial point. Unless countries are on the verge of a bond market strike, the amount of debt or the size of the deficit matter less than what activity the taxpayer is actually funding. If spending supports areas that increase growth rates via increases in productivity and innovation – such as education, skills, research and new technologies – then the long-run ratio of debt to economic output could be lower (and the state in better shape) than if its spending is less productive.
有关紧缩——以及公共赤字、国家债务与增长之间的关系——的辩论忽视了一个关键问题。除非国家濒临债券市场崩盘，否则债务规模或者赤字规模的重要性不及纳税人实际上在资助什么活动。如果这种支出支持那些通过提高生产率和创新加快manbetx20客户端下载 增长的领域，例如教育、技能、研究和新技术，那么与效益不高的支出相比，债务占manbetx20客户端下载 产出的长期比率可能较低（而且政府有望处于更好的状态）。