Editorial: No-money politics

David Miliband has called the national deficit the biggest argument in British politics—or would have done, had he become Labour leader, according to the now-famous leaked victory speech. The assertion is right, although it undersells the case. Debt and deficits are now the consuming political drama of the developed world. The questions run right through this issue of Prospect.

Could Greece destroy Europe? Yes: the current crisis could cause the eurozone as it now stands to unravel, and weaken voters’ commitment to the European Union. Wolfgang Münchau, author of “Europe’s fragile bonds,” is right that the Greek crisis may test to destruction the willingness of France and Germany to pay large sums to Europe’s troubled fringe. He is refreshingly willing to put numbers to the scale of the challenge, and his calculation that a “once-and-for-all bailout” would cost only €500bn in recapitalisation of banks performs a public service. But his desire for the political union that would support such a deal is something of a purist’s lament. He is surely right, however, to conclude that leaders in Berlin and Paris will probably prefer a fudge, dribbling out money for rescues until their voters rebel. As they probably will, in the end. Larry Siedentop argues, in “A crisis of belief,” that immigration and the euro problems present a challenge to national identities, not just interests.

America presents potentially an even worse risk, given its politicians’ inability to devise a way to cut the deficit. President Barack Obama’s greatest vulnerability is his lack of a plan. Adam Haslett, on board an evangelical cruise with Mike Huckabee, one-time contender for the Republican nomination, finds that the party’s clashes over debt policy are preventing it from picking a candidate to challenge Obama. Dahlia Lithwick notes that Congress’s blocking of Obama’s appointments amounts to political breakdown.

What should governments now do? Paul Johnson, the head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, argues on that the question for Britain is not whether to cut, but how fast. Yet it is a treacherous debate, where rival economic assertions cannot be proven—as the rift between the Miliband brothers shows. The best tactic, as Johnson puts it, is to edge forwards in making savings, hoping to avoid a new recession, and recognising that the pain of cuts already made has yet to be fully felt, never mind that of cuts yet to come. David Davis makes a strong case that in those choices, we should protect aid to north Africa, and Anna Blundy offers a passionate account of one overlooked side of the NHS.

These are essential debates. In the age of no-money politics, a country, and a government, defines itself by the cuts it makes, the people it protects, its plans for future growth and public services, and the values those choices reveal.