Does repeating a thing make it true? The followers of mainstream economic dogma must surely think ‘Yes’. After the financial crash of 2008 and the malaise ever since, they haven’t changed their tune much. Their prescriptions don’t work but the patients – you or me – are still being dosed with ‘freemarket’ medicine.
These cherished myths are causing real harm and we need to ditch them:
- Austerity will lead to “jobs and growth
- Deficit reduction is the only way out of a slump
- Taxing the rich scares off investors and stalls economic performance
- Economic migrants are a drain on rich world economies
- The private sector is more efficient than the public sector
- Fossil fuels are more economically viable that renewable
- Financial regulation will destroy the profitable banking sector
- Organised labour is regressive
- Everyone has to pay their debts
- Growth is the only way.
Finally, an interesting statement on economic forecasting:
“The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable”
– John Kenneth Galbraith
