Here is an essay I wrote for my ‘Economics in the real world’ module. Cheers to Chris May for running it. And to Lancaster University for allowing such a pluralistic degree, it’s such a good idea!



——>Was there ‘no alternative’ to the Coalitions austerity?<——

Austerity is a term that has been bandied about in politics recently, ever since the policy was adopted by most of the Western World following the Global Financial Crisis of 2007. Echoing the words of Margaret Thatcher, David Cameron claimed “there is no alternative” to austerity.

This essay discusses what austerity means, and the defences Mr Cameron gave to his controversial claim. As you shall see, David Cameron was wrong. The Conservatives are now attempting the tricky task of turning away from austerity, without admitting responsibility for being the implementers of such a rubbish policy.

The essay has an unusual method, it is an analysis of a newspaper article by Mr. Wolf (if you are blocked by the FT paywall, click this link then the top result), which in turn is an analysis of the speech in which Mr. Cameron made his bold claim. This babushka-esque analysis is with concepts learnt across a 20 week module at Lancaster Uni; PPR.228: Economics for the Real World. I hope you enjoy.