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Imposition of levies (taxes) by G20 governments to reduce government budget deficit: The G20 summit held in Canada over the weekend has confirmed the trend of fiscal consolidation which is happening in many of the major world economies in the wake of the financial crisis and recession. Leaders have agreed that debt as a proportion of gross domestic product needs to be stabilised or actually reduced by 2016 and it was noted that all the G20 countries had committed to halving their respective deficits within three years. Plans to introduce a global levy on banks have, as expected, been dropped although the summit confirmed that member countries would be free to introduce their own measures. The UK introduced a levy in the emergency Budget last week and some other European countries also have plans to do so...

This article discusses the different views of the Republicans and Democrats on setting the 2012 fiscal budget. The US government almost shutdown because the parties could not come to an agreement on how to spend money. This is a big topic in the US right now, especially with the increasing debt.

The thrust of fiscal policy in South Australia since 1994 towards reduced budget deficits and the elimination of government dissaving (borrowing to fund consumption, mainly salaries) was opposed from the outset from within the ruling alliance, with calls for a larger role for the state in the economy being accompanied by demands for increased government spending and larger deficits. With president Thabo Mbeki 's departure in 2008 brought about in part by the same political elements, there were reasons for believing that fiscal policy might change. But the global financial crisis and the local recession instead took precedence over policy debates within the alliance. Budget deficits rose and interest rates fell, but for cyclical reasons and not ideological pressures.

"The chain of logic for supply-side policies to work requires the following. Lower tax rates on savings (or on those who save more) leads to higher saving rates. Higher saving leads to more economic investments and greater capital accumulation. Finally, more capital leads to greater economic growth. At each of these steps, however, there is reason to doubt the theory-there are other possible outcomes and conflicting theories. Rep. Ryan's plan is supply-side economics on steroids. His budget for fiscal year 2012 beginning in October would curtail spending, end Medicare as we know it, and reduce taxes on the wealthy while keeping overall tax revenue constant. This can only mean taxes will go up on the "nonwealthy." Ryan boasts that all this pain will be for good. And he is backed by the Heritage Foundation, which predicts-among other fantastical claims-that his budget will add an estimated additional 1 million jobs in 2012. Those 1 million jobs, however, are fictional."

On the world stage, the debate over Keynesianism played out between the big powers during the world financial recession. Whilst the conservative British and German governments have been significantly reducing their government budgets, President Barack Obama has been priming the Keynesian pump by advocating much government "stimulus" spending. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, also spent federal cash in attempts to revive the economy...

The suffering will be widespread in Michigan as lawmakers dig the state out of next year's projected $1.4 billion budget hole.Snyder's plan eliminates the unpopular Michigan Business Tax in favor of a much smaller corporate income tax. To make up for the lost revenue, many tax exemptions and credits, both for business and individuals, would be erased. The most controversial of those eliminate an extra credit for the working poor and reduce pension exemptions.In total, income tax revenue would rise in 2013 nearly as much as business tax collections decline.

In a new study of federal fiscal policies between 1977 and 1992 entitled "Inequality and the Federal Budget Deficit," the nonpartisan group concludes that the tax cuts enacted in that period enriched the wealthy, increased the tax burden of the middle class, and grossly inflated the national debt. The study concludes that the tax cuts have resulted in lower overall federal tax burdens for only the very poorest and very richest of U.S. taxpayers. Most other families are paying a greater percentage of their family income to the government than they would be if the tax code had remained unchanged since 1977.

As the recession crawls on we see the reduction of many public goods. In this NY times article we hear about the cuts to military spending in the USA. Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to cut 78 BIllion dollars of the military budget in five years.

The article discusses the stability and growth Pact that regulates EU member states' budgets, and its impact on fiscal policy on member nations. Another dimension of fiscal policy is its political implications, and the article articulates this dilemma. Particularly in the case of the EU, where one government's spending has an effect on all other countries as the currency is common, a government's fiscal policy adjustments have political impacts. thus, aside from the economic implications, governments must consider the political ramifications of their actions before implementing fiscal policy.

The UK started reducing government expenditure, easing its fiscal policy to compensate for debt: There are a couple of notable points raised by the BRC in the Outlook: one is their view of economic growth and the other is the number of job losses caused by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne's public spending cuts. The BRC state that they believe the UK economy will continue to recover but at a slower pace than after the recessions of the 1970s, 80s and 90s. They put this "sluggish outlook" down to "the gradual normalisation of credit conditions, efforts to reduce private sector indebtedness and the impact of the Government's fiscal consolidation."