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Why do economies go into recession, and what should policymakers do? How do governments use money to influence the economy?
Over the past century governments have used a variety of strategies to avoid economic instability, and the current economic crisis has been handled very differently from the Great Depression, the last comparable global downturn. Getting the balance right - between government spending and taxation, low inflation and low unemployment, low interest rates for borrowers and rewards for savers - is difficult in practice, and the subject of ongoing debate in economic theory.
Track 6: Fiscal Policy
Waltraud Schelkle (European Institute, London School of Economics) discusses automatic stabilizers
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- Read a transcript of this track - you'll need a PDF viewer, such as Adobe's free Adobe Reader
- Download this track from iTunes U - you'll need Apple's free iTunes software
Tracks in this podcast:
| Track | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fiscal Response and Stimulus | Nicholas Crafts (Professor of Economics, Warwick University) discusses fiscal response. Play now Fiscal Response and Stimulus |
| 2 | Aggregate Demand | Roger Farmer (Professor of Economics, University of California Los Angeles) questions Keynesian ideas on aggregate demand Play now Aggregate Demand |
| 3 | State Intervention | Stewart Lansley, economist and financial journalist, discusses State Intervention Play now State Intervention |
| 4 | Stimulus Spending | Mariana Mazzucato (Professor of Economics, Sussex University) discusses Stimulus Spending Play now Stimulus Spending |
| 5 | Quantative Easing | Pontus Rendahl (Dept of Economics, Cambridge University) discusses Pros and Cons quantitative easing Play now Quantative Easing |
| 6 | Fiscal Policy | Waltraud Schelkle (European Institute, London School of Economics) discusses automatic stabilizers Play now Fiscal Policy |
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