My Baby Has Blue Ring Around Iris

Article published in 21/01/2010
EXPANSION
The tsunami of economic recession is uncovering a striking deterioration in public finances. Will our children pay the debt we are leaving a legacy?
In a recession, spending more than you enter is used to help maintain economic activity and helps the drop in revenue is not higher. However, the large fiscal stimulus English is the main source of fiscal imbalance in English: the European Commission estimates that in 2009 the primary structural deficit is 8.2%!
If public expenditure is used productively and efficiently, our children will be richer and have greater well-being. Then, they will have problems to deal with debt and this will represent a smaller proportion of their wealth. In the medium and long term, the cost of the deficit depends on the quality of spending: what is spent (composition), results are achieved (effectiveness) and the cost of achieving those results (efficiency).
We have evidence that the composition of public expenditure is relevant to predict the effects of spending on growth: infrastructure and education, and health, promote growth. However, not enough direct spending productively, if expenditure is high and results obtained are low, the efficiency of public spending is low and the government accounts will not be sustainable in the long term. Herein lies the Achilles heel of the English public finances as their level of efficiency is the lowest in the eurozone.
A report by the European Commission in July last year indicates that the quality of English public spending in five of six categories of spending (education, R & D, infrastructure, public order and security and general services) is poor, with only good in health services. On average, the quality of English public spending is among the lowest in the eurozone countries. In public infrastructure have a high level of spending and poor results. In education, the level of spending is not the highest, but the results are poor. R & D spending is low but with very low efficiency. In universities, very poor results despite having a high number of staff, resulting in a significant inefficiency.
there is no time for excuses designed to further delay the urgent measures of independent evaluation of the efficiency of spending programs and reforms based on their results.