the.com/austerity
the polite name for making the poor pay for the rich's mistakes
means A policy of severe economic cutbacks—slashing public spending and services—usually imposed by governments to reduce debt or deficits.
from From the Greek 'austeros,' meaning harsh, bitter, or dry on the tongue—the word first described the sour pucker of unripe fruit or rough wine. It traveled through Latin into Old French 'austerite' and reached English by the 14th century, carrying that taste of grimness from the palate to the purse. The economic sense—belt-tightening as official doctrine—is much younger, hardening into its modern budgetary meaning over the 20th century.
- coined crisis
- Greece slashed spending, its economy shrank a quarter
- word roots
- From Greek for harsh, dry, and bitter taste
- debt logic
- Cutting budgets can shrink growth and raise debt ratios
- IMF mea culpa
- Even the IMF admitted it underestimated austerity's damage
- life expectancy
- Linked to thousands of excess deaths in cut-hit nations
greece financial crisis — greek government implemented severe spending cuts and tax increases from 2010-2015, reducing wages and pensions by up to 40%
uk austerity programme — david cameron's coalition government cut public spending by £81 billion from 2010 onwards, reducing nhs and welfare budgets significantly
ireland bailout conditions — ireland accepted €85 billion imf-eu bailout in 2010 requiring severe public sector wage cuts and welfare reductions