Self-defeating austerity entails �perverse effects� of fiscal consolidation such that fiscal indicators deteriorate. Inter alia, this depends on the size of the fiscal multiplier as Keynes (1933. The Means to Prosperity. London: Macmillan) underlined. We find that the government expenditure multiplier was less than 1 in 1930s� Britain. Austerity was not self-defeating in the long…

This article examines home bias in U.S. domestic trade in 1949 and 2007. We use a unique data set of 1949 carload waybill statistics produced by the Interstate Commerce Commission, and 2007 Commodity Flow Survey data. The results show that home bias was considerably smaller in 1949 than in 2007 and that home bias in 1949 was even negative for several commodities. We argue that the difference be…

This paper considers developments in UK growth performance and supply-side policies since the 1980s. It argues that economic reforms made in the Thatcher years and consolidated under subsequent governments delivered improved pre-crisis growth outcomes helped by the information and communications technology (ICT) revolution and stronger competition in product markets. The new growth economics p…