With French and Greek voters rejecting austerity, politicians are once again taking the government spending debate seriously. This column argues that the voters are right – it is a bad idea to tighten fiscal policy when growth is so feeble. But the column adds that, wherever one looks, the road away from austerity looks desperately blocked.

Can organised crime divert public spending? This column presents evidence of the Mafia influencing public transfers and argues that geographically targeted aid should take into account the risk that at least part of the funding feeds into organised crime.

Many developed economies are in a liquidity trap with interest rates at or near zero. Many also have high unemployment that looks set to persist. This column argues that it is times like these when governments should be spending more, not less – they just have to be careful how they do it.

In the debate over the pros and cons of government spending, the efficacy of public investment is a point on which many conclusions hinge. This column introduces a new Public Investment Management Index that benchmarks the quality and efficiency of the investment process across 71 developing and emerging countries.

Government spending and its effect on the economy is a perpetual source of debate. This column argues that too much discussion has focused on government purchases, when the fiscal expansion from 2007 to 2009 was all about transfers. It suggests that fiscal spending on transfers can boost the economy in a recession, though only if the transfer moves resources between the right groups.

Does the type of electoral system affect fiscal policy around elections? This column shows that electoral systems allowing immediate re-election in Latin America have a considerable impact on government spending. On the positive side, fiscal management shows a slight improvement around elections.

What determines how efficiently a certain public service is provided? The authors of CEPR DP6799 use a dataset of procurement prices paid by Italian public bodies to disentangle the effect of active waste (overpricing that benefits the decision-maker directly, like bribing) and passive waste (overpricing due to sheer inefficiency). The results indicate that passive waste accounts for 83% of the total estimated waste.

Europe isn’t increasing its R&D intensity. Professor Pottelsberghe, former Chief Economist of the European Patents Office, identifies why Europe is missing its targets and looks to the R&D leaders – the US and Sweden – for policy lessons.