The Austerity Debacle
Another comment on this issue, from Nobelist Krugman. Dated to late January, but clearly he foresaw as coming what the second article discusses.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/30/opinion/krugman-the-austerity-debacle.html
Britain, in particular, was supposed to be a showcase for “expansionary austerity,” the notion that instead of increasing government spending to fight recessions, you should slash spending instead — and that this would lead to faster economic growth. “Those who argue that dealing with our deficit and promoting growth are somehow alternatives are wrong,” declared David Cameron, Britain’s prime minister. “You cannot put off the first in order to promote the second.”
That's the trouble with experiments in the social sciences. Different people draw different conclusions from the same results. And they interpret the initial conditions to anticipate what they know will happen.