Austerity prescribed shrinking government so natural economic laws could operate

Evidence

Th e policy change advocated for by austerity economists was one that “diminish[ed] the sphere of government” (Verbatim Record, Brussels 1920, vol. 2, 20). Such “sound policy” would “allow the natural economic laws to have full possibly of acting in all their intensity” (Beneduce, ibid., 73), thus leading to “sound fi nances” (ibid., 142) and especially to a boost in the effi ciency of production. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 786

Categorization

• DEFINE: Reveals the 1920s doctrinal vocabulary — ‘sound policy,’ ‘natural economic laws,’ ‘sound finances’ — that austerity repurposed.
• XREF: connects to: Austerity economists framed finance as natural law punishing disobedience — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1173; Austerity economists framed state restraint as protecting productive citizens. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1710; The modern state has been effectively shrinking for years, not growing — Michel Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at…, 1018

Broader Connections

• Austerity economists framed state restraint as protecting productive citizens. #corroborates (0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1710
• Austerity economists framed finance as natural law punishing disobedience #corroborates (0.82) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1173