Europe’s Social Democrats and Christian Democrats embraced austerity as crisis policy

Evidence

Europe, in contrast, was populated by left-leaning Social Democrats and center-right Christian Democrats who had spent the previous decade building a currency union that viewed monetary stability plus strict debt and deficit controls as the only policies worth bothering about. Thus, when the crisis hit, the European left (with the exception of the British under New Labour) and center-right argued and behaved in ways that we would normally expect from American Republicans: they championed financial stability, inflation control, and budget cutting as the way to get out of the crisis. — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 168

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The German left endorsed hard-core austerity, seeing crisis as necessary correction — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 531; Even avowedly socialist parties have embraced austerity at critical junctures — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 364; European officials pushed austerity during the G20 and ended global Keynesianism — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 173 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Even avowedly socialist parties have embraced austerity at critical junctures #expands (0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 364
• Austerity spans party lines and is often wielded by nominally left governments #corroborates (0.85)
• European officials pushed austerity during the G20 and ended global Keynesianism #corroborates (0.80) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 173
• Cross-party austerity orthodoxy enabled the Nazi electoral rise #expands (0.75) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 556
• Broader neoliberal shifts enabled austerity’s return to economic common sense #qualifies (0.75) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 406