News Summary

• As more governments recognize the need for greater public control over economic outcomes, they must be careful to define the concept well.
• What ultimately matters is not ownership, but the state’s capacity to steer economic activity toward strategic objectives in the service of the common good.
• In fact, cutting spending in a weak economy can leave the debt-to-GDP ratio higher, not lower.
• When fiscal rules bite, public investment is often the first thing cut.
• It follows from equating fiscal responsibility with cutting deficits and debt.