Austerity as a cure for economic woes is a confidence trick. As a response to an off-the-rails financial system and the deep recession caused by the risky and often fraudulent behaviour of private banks, it defies belief. Not only is the buccaneering of the banks rewarded by huge sums of public money, but the suffering public must submit to their elected leaders sadistically tightening belts to gut-squishing proportions.
The con is of the steady hand on the tiller. Conservative politicians start to talk in what economist Paul Krugman calls ‘hard choices boilerplate’. Times are hard so hard choices must be made; austerity is presented as the bitter pill that must be swallowed to return the economy to health. There will be increasing business confidence in the prudence of the government and this, along with tax breaks for corporations, will provide the incentive for the business sector to invest more and create jobs.
