Crisis Lessons Trigger Post-Covid Austerity Warning From OECD
- OECD deputy secretary-general Knudsen speaks in interview
- Zero interest-rate environment removes need for budget cuts
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Governments should avoid an early return to austerity if they want to prevent a repeat of the political tension that followed the global financial crisis, according to a senior official at the OECD.
Ulrik Vestergaard Knudsen, deputy secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and a candidate for the top job at the Paris-based group, says it’s important to learn from past crises, which made clear that an early end to state aid programs fanned income inequality, fueled division and spurred a populist backlash against globalization.