Austerity is economically irrational yet politically rational for preserving capitalism

Evidence

Much economic research has established that austerity has almost never worked as promised, neither stimulating growth nor reducing debt. So why does it continue to be the preferred course of action for governments? We cannot simply attribute its structural presence to the stupidity or corruption of those in government. The true measure of austerity’s effectiveness is its ability to impose and reinforce a class structure, the very order that underpins economic growth. In this sense, austerity has never been an irrational calculation. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 142 (#expands, via linked claim)

How were the experts capable of contending with such an onslaught stemming from the very heart of the establishment? Th e answer lay in an appeal to high economic theory. Indeed, the entwinement of economic theory and austerity policies— so crucial in a moment of high contestation— is the defi ning characteristic of austerity as we know it today, where consensus complements coercion. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 861 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Austerity is voluntary deflation achieved by cutting state budgets to restore competitiveness — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 25; Unequal austerity generates populism, nationalism, and violent movement instead of revenue — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 63; Austerity’s costs fall harder on the poor, making it politically unsustainable — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 42 (+24 more)

Related

• Economic theory gives austerity legitimacy that complements raw state coercion (similarity 0.87)
• Austerity is an effective class-structure instrument, not an economic error (similarity 0.86)
• Austerity that damages the economy can still rationally serve capitalist class interests (similarity 0.86)
• Austerity economists framed state restraint as protecting productive citizens. (similarity 0.86)
• Modern austerity requires managing public opinion through consensus and coercion combined (similarity 0.85)
• Austere economies structurally disempower those who would protest austerity (similarity 0.85)
• Economics legitimizes austerity claims by pretending to value-free objectivity. (similarity 0.85)
• Austerity enforces the wage-labor relation that capitalism requires for growth (similarity 0.85)
• Austerity’s real function is permanent structural extraction from many to few (similarity 0.85)
• Austerity is voluntary deflation achieved by cutting state budgets to restore competitiveness (similarity 0.85)
• Austerity’s rhetorical self-presentation as honest thrift masks its antidemocratic purpose. (similarity 0.85)
• Austerity structurally dismantled the workers’ movement and its economic alternatives (similarity 0.85)
• Austerity operates as capitalism’s counteroffensive against democratically empowered labor. (similarity 0.84)
• Austerity lacks an actual theory and is only a default sensibility in liberal economics (similarity 0.84)
• Austerity politics rest on the belief that democracy cannot produce sound economic policy (similarity 0.84)

Broader Connections

• Austerity is an effective class-structure instrument, not an economic error #expands (0.90) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 142
• Economic theory gives austerity legitimacy that complements raw state coercion #expands (0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 861
• Economics legitimizes austerity claims by pretending to value-free objectivity. #expands (0.85)
• Austerity’s real function is permanent structural extraction from many to few #expands (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 657
• Modern austerity requires managing public opinion through consensus and coercion combined #expands (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 818
• Austerity transforms neoliberal rationality from freedom toward sacrifice. #qualifies (0.78) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 135
• Capitalism can preserve ‘irrational’ features like unfree labor rather than abolish them #exemplifies (0.72) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 590
• Austerity operates as speculation that converts fiction into fact #expands (0.70) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 400