Luis Arce, a quiet economist who will be sworn in as Bolivia's president on Sunday after a landslide election win, knew where he stood in the political spectrum as a young teenager in La Paz, when he picked up the writings of philosopher Karl Marx.
Portugal's incumbent Prime Minister Antonio Costa's Socialists won a general election on Sunday after presiding over a period of solid economic growth following years of austerity, near total results showed. The Socialist Party (PS) took 37% of the vote, followed by the centre-right Social Democrats (PSD) with 28%, with 98% of constituencies counted, according to the interior ministry.
Brazil’s government on Tuesday slightly raised its 2019 economic growth forecast and said the worst for the economy is probably behind it but showed no sign it is willing to ease up on its commitment to austerity and strict fiscal discipline.
Philip Hammond must spend billions extra to end austerity, says think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). To maintain per capita spending across government departments which don't have ring-fenced budgets, he must find an extra £5bn a year by 2023, it adds. And maintaining spending on unprotected services as a share of national income would require £11bn on top of spending plans set out in the 2018 Budget.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has said the “era of austerity is finally coming to an end”, in his last Budget before Brexit. He spent a windfall from better public finances on more money for universal credit and bringing forward planned income tax cuts by a year.