FISCAL policy could be a lot better, in a lot of countries. This is the unavoidable conclusion from reading the IMF’s updated Fiscal Monitor presented this morning in Toyko. Many countries' tax and spending decisions are contributing to rising inequality, and are insufficiently targeted at cutting unemployment. But the most immediate problem is that consolidation in advanced countries is excessively pro-cyclical. This is because spending cuts and tax hikes act as brakes, slowing the recovery. There is a nasty double whammy too because the IMF now reckons the fiscal brakes are most effective (multipliers are bigger) in a downturn. Is a change of course a good idea?

In the chart above, the blue bits of the bars are baked in already. The others could be adjusted. The question is whether some countries—the IMF mentions Britain and France—should delay fiscal adjustment, pushing up-front consolidation (yellow) out into the future (red). Looking at bond yields (chart below) it is tempting to conclude that consolidation should be delayed in all G7 countries except Italy. This is because even countries with large deficits and debt stocks can afford to buy more time to adjust, since interest rates are so low.