At Brussels, international cooperation served austerity and closed off economic-democracy alternatives
Evidence
Stanford economics professor Joseph S. Davis commended Brussels as a “conference of specialists in fi nancial disease.” Th eir assembly “for diagnosis of the acute illness of the nations” was a victory, Davis argued, in that the attendees reached “unanimous agreement upon the main points of a diagnosis and upon the mode of treatment appropriate to the present stages of the disease” (Davis 1920, 350). Davis’s claim of a unanimous agreement was centered less on international cooperation than on austerity. Or better, international cooperation found useful expression in austerity, with the latter silencing the powerful enemies of capital accumulation and foreclosing any noncapitalist alternatives of postwar reconstruction, including projects for economic democracy. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 672
Categorization
- DEFINE: Frames the medical metaphor (‘financial disease’, ‘diagnosis’, ‘treatment’) as ideological cover for class-first austerity policy — a recurring rhetorical move.
- XREF: connects to: The 1920 Brussels conference convened 39 nations to craft global austerity — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 667; European officials pushed austerity during the G20 and ended global Keynesianism — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 173; Post-WWI austerity was deployed to block moves toward economic democracy. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 161 (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- Austerity was codified as economic policy at the 1920 Brussels conference.
#expands(0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 7 - European officials pushed austerity during the G20 and ended global Keynesianism
#corroborates(0.80) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 173 - Post-WWI austerity was deployed to block moves toward economic democracy.
#contradicts(0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 161 - Expert austerity framing blocked post-war moves toward economic democracy
#contradicts(0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 161 - The Brussels conference framed the postwar economy as a patient needing drastic treatment.
#exemplifies(0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 688 - British austerity predated its codification at the 1920 Brussels and Genoa conferences
#qualifies(0.72) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 823