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Pre-Sessional English Programme Written Assignment Final Draft August 2014 Student Number: 140228380 Student Name: Lei Cao Group: PSP130 Assignment title: Austerity measures have been proven to work against a recession Assignment title number: 1 Word Count: 1285 Have austerity measures been proven to work against a recession？ It was about 6 years ago that erupted the Financial Crisis, after when the global economy had fallen into a recession which is commonly believed the severest one since 1930s. As a consequence of a recession, people losing jobs, less welfare, a significant number of companies and financial institutions bankrupted. Many countries chose to cut government expenditures, namely austerity measures, at the beginning of the recession. There were several arguments on whether austerity measures really work for the recession. On one hand, some people argued that austerity measures should be taken to control expenditures during a recession. On the other hand, others believed that austerity is not the solution. This essay tends to agree with the latter opinion. Firstly, arguments of efficiency of austerity measures will be revealed. Then, reasons why this essay disagrees with those arguments will be revealed. Thirdly, arguments of inefficiency of austerity measures in a recession will be demonstrated. First, some view believed that austerity measures were effective for the economy during a recession, by which expenditure of social sectors can be cut as generous welfare benefits may bring about unwillingness of taking a job and voluntary unemployment during a recession. Pettinger(2011) pointed out that generous government would discourage people to work. Austerity measures should be imposed to fit the down-turn of the economy. In other words, If government chooses to impose austerity measures, not only would this encourage people to find a job but also would release the burden of government, for spending less in its budget. It