Public won’t endure another austerity budget

In many ways the Government’s dilemma over the scale of budget consolidation it should introduce on October 14 exposes in a nutshell the ongoing problems of an incomplete monetary union.

Since 2008, there has been a collective budget adjustment of 20% of GDP. This is almost unprecedented by OECD standards. That it was done with social cohesion remaining intact is remarkable.

But there is no appetite for further austerity and understandably so.