After my column arguing that there is “no alternative to austerity”, I seem to have become an unofficial ringleader of the backlash against the argument that “austerity in Europe is mad”. This was, of course, itself a backlash against austerity itself. Now, as people respond to my article, we are several iterations back. I think it’s the backlash against the backlash against the backlash.

But enough of this hall-of-mirrors. Writing on his blog today, Paul Krugman suggests that I was setting up a straw-man – by arguing against Keynesianism in Spain and Italy. He agrees that this is not feasible. The point, he says, is that you need a Keynesian response in Europe, as a whole. In this, as Krugman points out, he is echoing a critique made by Ryan Avent, over at The Economist. Read more