I have just come across this video by Brown University Professor Mark Blyth (thanks @JamesHannahUK) who explained very well in five minutes why austerity, especially when everybody engages in it at the same time, is a very bad idea. The video is two years old but – unfortunately – is still up to date with the addition that the effects of concerted austerity are now felt much more, across Europe in particular. So if you want to know – maybe contrary to intuition – why it is not a good idea for governments to cut spending in the current circumstances and what the fallacy of composition is have a look at this video. It is very well made!