Borrowing to invest: Why the people in Germany and the UK do not prioritise fiscal responsibility

Abstract Despite different national debt levels, centre–right and centre–left politicians in Germany and the UK embrace fiscally restrictive approaches to state spending that have been criticised for their detrimental impact on needed public investments. This paper expands the critique beyond the economic and welfare consequences and shows that, additionally, politicians championing ‘fiscal responsibility’ are not addressing concerns of the public either. Using original survey data, the analysis demonstrates how public perceptions of economic policies should not be assumed to match the assumptions of balance-sheet-accounting approaches to thinking about state expenditure and why politicians could be more confident in providing positive narratives about debt-financed state investments.