Economics

IMF’s Post-Crisis Austerity Call Mistaken, Watchdog Says

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The verdict is in on the International Monetary Fund’s call for government austerity in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis: bad idea.

Where the fund went awry was in its 2010 shift away from recommending government stimulus to calling for budget cuts in the biggest advanced economies, according to a report released today by the IMF’s internal watchdog, the Independent Evaluation Office. That turn was inappropriate given the global recovery’s modest pace, the report said.