Thread by @SagittaVeritat1

For the Tory neolibs that look to America as a role model of small government, ‘government off the back of people’ and ‘individual freedom’ it’s interesting to note that that US govt share of GDP is 45.3% vs the UK’s 44.6%.

So, the US is more of a nanny state than the UK?

Then think about the fact the US has a privately funded healthcare system which runs at 18% of GDP vs the UK’s 10% and it has worse clinical outcomes than the nationalised UK system. Further, inequality and mortality in the US are the worst in the developed economies

Of course, we must point out America has chosen to spend its money on guns and the UK on butter to paraphrase the ‘guns and butter’ analogy used by economists. Nevertheless, what these figures show is that in advanced, wealthy economies, governments play an enormous role

If government spending were to be slashed, it’s clear the economy would contract significantly. And, that is exactly what happened under Tory Cameron’s disastrous austerity - just as Keynesian economics predicts. So, @trussliz ‘s neolib policies aren’t going to help the UK.

What they will do is reduce economic activity and make ordinary people poorer. Slashing workers rights and cutting taxes for the richest won’t magic up growth if we have cut ourselves off from the biggest single market on the planet and the US won’t entertain a trade deal either

because of our NIP disaster and willingness to break an international agreement. What will drive growth in an increase in productivity, investment in Green energy (£1 Trillion opportunity), healthcare and education. Contrary to Tory economic orthodoxy, raising the

minimum wage and making decent welfare payments also boost growth - again all predicted and with a great track record by Keynesian economics. The #ToryVoodooEconomics solution is to do the exact opposite and the result will be further stagnation and further decline.

(I really do wish Twitter would post my tweets up in the order that I post them up!)