Re: From "Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors" by Matt Parker
Many thanks for the book recommendations.
it shows that Austerity should not have been the chosen route. horrific
Rather than the UK, I'd point to Greece to highlight the pain of Austerity as a policy. For Greece it was eventually imposed by the lenders (IMF and EU) effectively saying 'no more credit'.
Borrowing is not inherently wrong - ask boomers who now own their own homes how they got there and most will say they took on debt - and some fell foul of 'negative equity' and had to start over.
Reinhart and Rogoff's error in their spreadsheet weakened but did not destroy their central finding which was that high international debt is associated with low growth. They should not have been storing their data in a spreadsheet. It's the wrong tool for the job.
It seems entirely reasonable that paying interest on or paying off debt leaves less value to be spent on all the good things a country needs to progress - like medical care, education, infrastructure (and sadly, defence). Every now and then there is a push to forgive some international debt - which is a good thing when it's got out of control. It's a bit like a personal bankrupt these days may have their finances managed for them by an externally appointed administrator - but the law takes a very dim view if they bypass their administrator and take on even more debt.
Lastly, Thomas Herndon (the student who discovered the error) deserves high praise.