Austerity in Britain, 2010-2019: Remembering What it Has Meant for the British Public as it Confronts Austerity Once More

Abstract

The author of this working paper, acknowledging the limitations of the present literature on the "austerity" to which Britain was subject in the wake of the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and its associated "Great Recession" in the 2010-2019 period; and the necessity of a more satisfactory, comprehensive, consideration of the history with the country on the verge of a new round of austerity; offers here a succinct overview of the policy developments associated with it, their context, and their implications. In so doing it presents a short but comprehensive listing of the most important changes the British governments of the period made with regard to taxation, social provision and essential government services; notes the continuities as well as the breaks between austerity and the preceding decades of "neoliberal" economic and social policy; and discusses the "bottom line" consequences evident in the cumulative effect of the cuts in a context of economic stagnation; and presents the consequences for Britain's population derived from the analysis of demographic data regarding mortality and longevity.

Keywords: Austerity, Neoliberalism, British Economic History, British Social History, Britain 2010-, Great Recession, Political Economy, Welfare State