No alternative to austerity? That lie has now been nailed | Owen Jones

For years we've been told that only deep cuts can save our economy. Portugal's socialist-led government has proved the opposite

Ever since the banks plunged the western world into economic chaos, we have been told that only cuts offer economic salvation. When the Conservatives and the Lib Dems formed their austerity coalition in 2010, they told the electorate - in apocalyptic tones - that without George Osborne's scalpel, Britain would go the way of Greece. The economically illiterate metaphor of a household budget was relentlessly deployed - you shouldn't spend more if you're personally in debt, so why should the nation? - to popularise an ideologically driven fallacy.

Related: Greek debt crisis: 'People can't see any light at the end of any tunnel'

In 2016 - a year after taking power - the government could boast of a 13% jump in corporate investment

Related: Jacques Delors foresaw the perils of austerity. How we need his wisdom now | Mark Seddon

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