Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea. Mark Blyth: Austerity - The History of a Dangerous Idea. The politics and economics of Austerity. Austerity Reigns Over Euro Zone as Crisis Deepens. Austerity, democracy, and economics. How Austerity Is Killing Europe by Jeff Madrick. On the last day of 2011, a headline in The Wall Street Journal read: “Spain Misses Deficit Target, Sets Cuts.” The cruel forces of poor economic logic were at work to welcome in the new year. The European Union has become a vicious circle of burgeoning debt leading to radical austerity measures, which in turn further weaken economic conditions and result in calls for still more damaging cuts in government spending and higher taxes. The European debt crisis began with Greece, and that nation remains the European Union’s most stricken economy. But it has spread inexorably to Ireland, Portugal, Italy, and Spain, and even threatens France and possibly the UK. Over the past two years, the severe 2009 recession, which started in the US but spread across Europe, have imperiled the finances of one European country after another.
But this is pre-Great Depression economics. Indeed, austerity economics has not worked in one single case in Europe in the last two years. And then there is Ireland.