Governing austerity in the United Kingdom: anticipatory fiscal consolidation as a variety of austerity governance\ud

摘要

This article analyses the logic underpinning austerity governance in the UK.\udTaking the UK’s relative fiscal and monetary policy autonomy as a starting point, the\udarticle unpacks and analyses how the UK has charted a successful course between\udthe imperatives of social stability and market credibility. At the heart of this ‘success’\udis a fundamentally anticipatory governing logic. Fiscal consolidation was justified and\udenacted as a pre-emptive and preventative intervention in order to anticipate an\udindebted and thus disciplined future. Contrary to conventional wisdom, then, UK\udausterity is not necessarily just geared towards swingeing spending cuts, because the\uddirection of travel towards an imagined debt- and deficit-free future is just as\udimportant as reaching the destination itself under the logic of anticipatory fiscal\udconsolidation.