Post-2008 bailouts continued the austerity pattern of shifting resources to the few
Evidence
Th e austerity impulse is present even where it appears otherwise. So far in the twentyfi rst century, two fi nancial crises have been met with economic responses labeled “Keynesian” for their decisions to spend rather than cut. But some old habits don’t die. Aft er 2008, governments took care to save fi nancial institutions fi rst, thereby draining resources from the public in the years that followed. Th e rationale for such activities perfectly matched those that we have encountered in this book: a shift of resources from the many to the few. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1598
Categorization
- XREF: Directly bridges this book’s interwar material to the 2008 crisis and contemporary responses — central to the reader’s stated purpose of connecting interwar austerity to modern neoliberalism. — connects to: The 2008 TARP bank bailout is a trigger of the austerity path that followed — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 618; Austerity is state intervention transferring resources from the many to the few — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 195; The 2008 crisis pushed whole nations toward bankruptcy and austerity (+5 more)
- ADDENDUM: Relevant to ‘On Sacrifice: The Real Kind, with Corpses’ — bailing out financial institutions at the public’s expense is a secular form of sacrificing the many to preserve the capital order.
Broader Connections
- The 2009 bailout rescued bankers while imposing austerity on workers
#expands(0.82) — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 391 - Austerity is state intervention transferring resources from the many to the few
#qualifies(0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 195 - Austerity’s real function is permanent structural extraction from many to few
#qualifies(0.78) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 657 - Austerity is state intervention that transfers resources from workers to capital
#qualifies(0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 195 - Austerity is a counteroffensive that shifts resources from workers to investors.
#qualifies(0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1467 - The 2008 crisis pushed whole nations toward bankruptcy and austerity
#responds-to(0.70)