significantly below the inflation rate. General government successfully contained growth in expenditure mainly through a decisive slowdown in current spending on goods and services. The financial turbulence and monetary policy The conservative fiscal policy stance assisted in countering the contagion effect of the international financial turbulence during 1998.
If people and governments become convinced once again that it is but a zerosum game, the consequences can be serious. However, as so often in the economics of exchange, it is not a zero-sum game. Good economic reasoning and creative research must be key ingredients of the conversation.