Must-Read: Simon Wren-Lewis: Mediamacro Myth Makers Fight Back

Must-Read: Simon Wren-Lewis: Mediamacro Myth Makers Fight Back: “This may also be the first in a series!… David Smith of the Times…

….Chris Giles of the FT tweeted: ‘The shocking thing about this excellent post is the misinformation that forced @dsmitheconomics to write it’…. I have never said that austerity was abandoned in 2012. In fact I cannot think of anyone who did, but clearly I’m not reading the right people…. David concludes, of course… that the pace of austerity slowed from 2012 onwards, which is obvious…. So why does he think this is such a problem for critics of austerity? Again we need a straw man: someone who ‘see[s] everything that has happened to the economy through the lens of fiscal policy.’ Now I’m sure I have never met anyone like that…. This is terrible stuff…. A recovery is perfectly compatible with austerity being a drag on growth, particularly if monetary policy is highly expansionary…