Stick to austerity, says Flaherty

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is sounding the alarm over indications that global policymakers are moving away from austerity measures, the Financial Times reports.

Read: Bill Gross blasts Britain and Eurozone over austerity

“What I worry about is those that suggest that austerity should be abandoned. I think that’s the road to ruin quite frankly. As a finance minister, the sine qua non is sound fiscal and economic policy. Without that there will be a reckoning. It’s just a question of when,” Flaherty says.

He’s especially concerned about quantitative easing becoming a new normal, the report notes.

“I understand printing money and I understand using a euphemism – quantitative easing. But that’s supposed to be a temporary measure and not become a permanent feature. It worries me that there’s this persistence of quantitative easing.”

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