Austerity economists framed state restraint as protecting productive citizens.

Evidence

As Ricci put it, “it must be those men capable of producing and interested in producing are not chased away [scacciati] and tormented by government” (Ricci 1920a, 8). — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1710

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘productive vs. parasitic’ distinction rehearses the class rhetoric that Mattei argues defines austerity as a class weapon. — connects to: Government inefficiency operates as a bulwark protecting liberty from state power. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 483; Neoliberal economists saw wage cuts as necessary for small states to compete globally. — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the…, 185; Austerity prescribed shrinking government so natural economic laws could operate — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 786 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Economic theory gives austerity legitimacy that complements raw state coercion #expands (0.82) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 861
• Austerity masquerades as apolitical science while bending workers to capital’s will #expands (0.78)
• Economics legitimizes austerity claims by pretending to value-free objectivity. #responds-to (0.75)
• Austerity is economically irrational yet politically rational for preserving capitalism #expands (0.72)
• International economists forged austerity as a deliberate antiworker project #expands (0.72) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 194