Austerity may be painful, but it is unavoidable since undergoing such emetic periods is the essence of capitalism's process of investment and discovery

The Treasury's argument, echoing Hume and Smith, was that to borrow money to finance spending, the government would have to offer better terms than those available elsewhere. This would have the effect of reducing overall investment by
"crowding out" private capital while increasing the debt for what would offer only a temporary respite rather than a full-blown cure. [...]