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2.CONTROVERSIESOVERTHECONCEPTOFFISCALCONSOLIDATION
2)selectingtheconsolidationstrategy(includingconsolidationtoolsanditspace),
3)measurementoftheconsolidation;4)macroeconomiceffectsofconsolidation,
5)criteriaforassessingtheeffectivenessofconsolidation0Thefollowingsubsections
showtheessenceofthesedisputesintheseparateareas0
Wewillbegindiscussingthesecontroversieswithfocusingontherecentlyongoing
debateoverthevalidityoffiscalconsolidationinthetimeofcrisis0Asnotedintheintro-
duction,inthecontextoftheglobalcrisis,fiscaldisciplinehasbecomethepriorityofthe
UE0Yet,atthesametime,onecanpointouttheeconomistswhocriticizedthisapproach0
AccordingtoŁaskiandOsiatyński,Gconsolidatingpublicfinancesinthetimeofcrisis
tendstobemoreharmfulthanhelpful”.
8
Theyclaimthatunderunfavourablemarketcon-
ditions,thebudgetdeficitmustincreaseasaresultofdeleverage0Businessesandhouse-
holdsaremakingharshattemptstosavethemselvesfromlosingtheirabilitytoservicethe
debtbyallocatingalloftheirincometorepayloans0Inaddition,thepursuitofliquiditywill
develop.Ifthedeficitisnotraisedintheseconditions,thentheGprivatesectorpressure
onthedeleveragewillpushtheeconomydownuntilweallgetsoimpoverishedthatwe
stopdeleveraging”.
9
Strivingforabalancedbudget,whichistoensurethemacroeconomic
stabilityofindividualmemberstatesandthewholeoftheEU,isconsideredbythese
authorsoneofthecausesoftherecentcrisis0Krugmanalsoexpressedhisoppositionto
cuttinggovernmentexpendituresinthefaceofcrisis0
10
ItcorrespondswithKeynesian
viewthatsavingsshouldbegatheredinthetimeofeconomicgrowthratherthaninthe
periodofitsdramaticcollapse,andthatthecrisiswasatimeforthegovernmenttoin-
creaseexpendituresuntiltheprivatesectorhasbeenreadytolifttheeconomy0
11
Then
themorefavourableconditionswilloccurtocopewithpublicdeficitsanddebt0
Thechoiceoftherightmomentoffiscalconsolidationcanplayacrucialrole0Dif-
ficultiesinthisregardareindicatedintheOECDreport,whichshowsthatin2014,
morethanfiveyearsafterthefinancialcrisisoutburst,manyOECDcountriesare
experiencinghighunemploymentratesandthelossofincomeinindividualhouseholds
hasaggravatedsocialconditions0
12
Atthesametime,theabilityofgovernmentsto
counteractthesenegativephenomenaislimitedbyfiscalconsolidation,which,based
onexpenditurecutsonsocialactions,mayfurtheraggravatethesituationofthemost
vulnerablegroupsandcauseadditionalproblemsinthefuture0
Thisissueseemstobeasvitalas,dependingonthebusinesscyclephase,there-
sponsetofiscaladjustmentsmeasuredbythemultipliereffectwillbecharacterizedby
8K.ŁaskiandJ.Osiatyński,GKonsolidacjafinansówpublicznychakryzysstrefyeuro”,Ekonomista,
nr1,2013,p0220
9Ibidem,p0230
10P
0Krugman,EndThisDepressionNow!,NewYork:W0W
0Norton&Company,20120
11J0M0Keynes,TheGeneralTheoryofEmployment,InterestandMoney,NewYork:Harcourt,Brace&
World,19360
12SocietyataGlance2014:OECDSocialIndicators,OECDPublishing,2014,availableathttps://www0
oecd0org/els/societyataglance0htm(accessedNovember14,2017)0
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