The Baltic austerity ‘success stories’ grew from unstable credit-bubble economies

Evidence

A set of patently unsustainable and unstable economies financed by foreign credit bubbles blew up, quite predictably, the minute there was a shock to these economies. These countries are now supposed to be the role models for the rest of the world to follow? Spain is in bad shape, certainly, but is it really supposed to hollow out its economy entirely and live off more foreign borrowed money? Is Italy supposed to abandon its competitive export sector and sell off its banks? That would be what “following the example of the REBLLs” actually means. In fact, these so-called “models” are little more than the worst features of Ireland, Spain, and Greece combined, with no compensatory airbags, a sideline in divide-and-rule ethnic politics, and a libertarian instruction sheet. The REBLLs may have bounced back, but why would anyone want to copy policies that led to such an unstable and inequitable growth model in the first place? — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 603

Categorization

• XREF: Directly feeds the reader’s Mattei-aligned critique: the supposedly successful Baltic models have no fundamentals to recommend them. — connects to: Sweden’s 1989-1993 collapse came from asset bubbles and currency crisis, not debt fears — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 573; Austerity increased rather than reduced debt in the Baltic states. — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 608; Austerity’s success cases are few and possibly wrong while its failures are demonstrable — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 479 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Austerity increased rather than reduced debt in the Baltic states. #expands (0.82) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 608
• Austerity’s success cases are few and possibly wrong while its failures are demonstrable #corroborates (0.78) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 479
• Baltic export-led recoveries partly relied on neighbors’ demand, not austerity itself #complicates (0.75) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 609
• Financial fragility plus stagnant wages produce debt-driven growth regimes prone to crisis #expands (0.72) — Natascha van der Zwan, Making Sense of Financialization, 34