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Jeremy is the one making sense

23rd August 2015

Jeremy is the one making sense

Letter to the ‘Observer’ 23.08.15

The accusation is widely made that Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters have moved to the extreme left on economic policy. But this is not supported by the candidate’s statements or policies.

Jeremy Corbyn wins economists’ backing for anti-austerity policies
His opposition to austerity is actually mainstream economics, even backed by the conservative IMF. He aims to boost growth and prosperity. He voted against the shameful £12bn in cuts in the welfare bill.

Despite the barrage of media coverage to the contrary, it is the current government’s policy and its objectives which are extreme. The attempt to produce a balanced public sector budget primarily through cuts to spending failed in the previous parliament. Increasing child poverty and cutting support for the most vulnerable is unjustifiable. Cutting government investment in the name of prudence is wrong because it prevents growth, innovation and productivity increases, which are all much needed by our economy, and so over time increases the debt due to lower tax receipts.

We the undersigned are not all supporters of Jeremy Corbyn. But we hope to clarify just where the “extremism” lies in the current economic debate.
Yours,

David Blanchflower
Bruce V Rauner professor of economics, Dartmouth and Stirling, ex-member of the MPC
Mariana Mazzucato
Professor, Sussex
Grazia Ietto-Gillies
Emeritus professor, London South Bank University
Malcolm Walker
Emeritus professor, Leeds
Robert Wade
Professor, LSE
Michael Burke
Economist
Steve Keen
Professor, Kingston University London
Victoria Chick
Emeritus professor, UCL
Anna Coote
NEF personal capacity
Ozlem Onaran
Professor, Greenwich
Andrew Cumbers
Professor, Glasgow
Tina Roberts
Economist
Dr Suzanne J Konzelmann
Birkbeck
Tanweer Ali
Lecturer, New York
John Weeks
Professor, SOAS
Marco Veronese Passarella
Lecturer, University of Leeds
Dr Judith Heyer
Emeritus Fellow, Somerville College, Oxford
Dr Jerome De-Henau
Senior lecturer, Open University
Stefano Lucarelli
Professor, University of Bergamo
Paul Hudson
Formerly Universität Wissemburg-Halle
Mario Seccareccia
Professor, Ottawa
Dr Pritam Singh
Professor, Oxford Brookes
Arturo Hermann
Senior research fellow at Istat, Rome
Dr John Roberts
Brunel
Cyrus Bina
Professor, Minnesota
Alan Freeman
Retired former economist
George Irvin
Professor, SOAS
Susan Pashkoff
Economist
Radhika Desai
Professor, University of Manitoba
Diego Sánchez-Ancochea
Associate professor, University of Oxford
Guglielmo Forges Davanzati
Associate professor, University of Salento
Jeanette Findlay
Senior lecturer, Glasgow
Raphael Kaplinsky
Emeritus professor, Open University
John Ross
Socialist Economic Bulletin
Steven Hail
Adjunct lecturer, University of Adelaide
Louis-Philippe Rochon
Associate professor, Laurentian
Hilary Wainwright
Editor, Red Pepper
Arturo Hermann
Senior researcher, ISAE, Rome
Joshua Ryan-Collins
NEF personal capacity
James Medway
Lecturer, City University
Alberto Paloni
Professor, Glasgow
Dr Mary Roberton
Leeds