US is not alone in loosening fiscal policy

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From the Goldman via the WSJ:

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There were more developed countries that loosened rather than tightened in 2016.

On its own that statistic doesn’t tell us that much (Liechtenstein takes the same amount of graph space as the US on the above chart), but it is a useful reminder that the change in conditions is close to as important as the actual level. i.e. spending might be low, but if spending is higher than the year before then it is adding to demand rather than subtracting from it.