Catherwood LibraryILR School

Britain announced cuts amounting to $130 billion by 2015. The cuts average 19% per government department, and will raise the retirement age and eliminate 490,000 public sector jobs, around 8% of the total number of public jobs. The government says that the cuts are necessary to reduce debt, and that the private sector will take up the slack when it comes to job loss. But some economists, including Joseph Stiglitz, say that the plan will just cause Britain to fall deeper into the recession, and will result in an even higher public debt. The cuts included 4% to the police and around 15% to some arts programs like museums.