Austerity persists as an ideology that resists empirical refutation

Evidence

When world leaders keen to legitimize the damage that they have already done to the lives of millions of their fellow citizens reach for examples such as these to vindicate their actions, applauding these countries for creating misery, it shows us one thing above all. Austerity remains an ideology immune to facts and basic empirical refutation. This is why it remains, despite any and all evidence we can muster against it, a very dangerous idea. — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 613

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The claim that an ideology can be ‘immune to facts’ — structurally insulated from falsification — is a dense thesis worth sitting with, linking ideology theory to policy history.
• XREF: Connects to Mattei’s austerity critique and the broader literature on how economic ideas persist despite disconfirmation (keynes, hayek). — connects to: The IMF’s 2011-12 papers refuted the expansionary austerity hypothesis by name — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 582; REBLL recoveries disprove expansionary austerity and left states deeper in debt — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 612; Austerity persists because commonsense appeal and conservative motives outweigh disproof — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 50 (+20 more)

Broader Connections

• Austerity persists because commonsense appeal and conservative motives outweigh disproof #expands (0.85) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 50
• Austerity-bred consensus sustains further austerity in a self-reinforcing loop #expands (0.78) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 235
• Austerity operates as speculation that converts fiction into fact #expands (0.75) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 400