Monetary technocrats framed austerity as requiring both worker discipline and reduced consumption

Evidence

Gerard Vissering of the Netherlands Central Bank, vice chairman of the Commission of Currency and Exchange, well summed up the austerity treatment: to assure economic recovery, “labour effi ciency will have to be increased, in the fi rst place by avoiding strikes, but further also by a more intensive supply of labourservice.” Moderation, too, could serve to complement workers’ discipline. Economic recovery required “reducing the homeconsumption to the strictly necessary and avoiding the superfl uous, e.g., excessive consumption of butter, sugar, etc.” (Verbatim Record, Brussels 1920, vol. 2, 61). — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 716

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the thesis of austerity as class weapon applied via wage discipline and consumption restraint, echoing earlier chapters on Britain’s Geddes cuts and Treasury orthodoxy. — connects to: Austerity coerced workers through the twin motto of working more and consuming less. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 586; Monetary austerity deliberately induced recession to discipline workers. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 154; Austerity deliberately targeted working-class consumption of even basic goods — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 716 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Monetary austerity was designed to moralize and discipline economic behavior toward thrift #expands (0.90) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 759
• Monetary austerity deliberately induced recession to discipline workers. #corroborates (0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 154
• Monetary austerity deliberately aimed to rein in workers’ purchasing power #corroborates (0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 757
• Austerity deliberately targeted working-class consumption of even basic goods #corroborates (0.82) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 716
• Austerity treats citizens’ consumption as the cause of inflation to justify repressing demand #corroborates (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 349