It's OK to spend a bit as world wriggles free of austerity grip

Hong Kong

WAS Larry Summers right after all?

Around the world, governments are planning fresh spending to boost growth and support wages, heeding the advice of the Harvard University economist and others who have argued that economies need the jolt as society ages and productivity sags. That is signalling the ascendancy of energisers like Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the firing of austerity advocates such as former UK chancellor George Osborne.

The shift away from budget rigour and reliance on monetary policy has been s…