We review the debate surrounding the macroeconomic effects of deficit reduction policies (austerity). The discussion about "austerity" in general has distracted commentators and policymakers from a very important result, namely the enormous difference, on average, between expenditure- and tax-based austerity plans. Spending-based austerity plans are remarkably less costly than tax-based plans. The former have on average a close to zero effect on output and lead to a reduction of the debt over GDP ratio. Tax-based plans have the opposite effect and cause large and long lasting recessions. These results also apply to the recent episodes of European austerity which in this respect were not especially different from previous cases.

中文翻译：

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紧缩效应：基于支出和税收的方法

我们回顾有关减少赤字政策（紧缩）的宏观经济影响的辩论。总体上，关于“紧缩”的讨论使评论员和政策制定者从一个非常重要的结果上分散注意力，也就是基于支出和基于税收的紧缩计划之间的平均巨大差异。基于支出的紧缩计划的成本明显低于基于税收的计划。前者对产出的影响平均接近于零，并导致债务占GDP的比率降低。以税收为基础的计划会产生相反的效果，并导致长期大范围的衰退。这些结果也适用于最近发生的欧洲紧缩事件，在这方面与以往的情况并没有特别的不同。