(no subject)
"Austerity is dead"
Surprise. Austerity was dead the moment it stopped the political classes from paying for what voters demand.
Were those demands reasonable or unreasonable? Realistic or unrealistic?
It doesn't really matter. It is the natural role of the politician to pander to what their voters want - it's what got them their jobs in the first place and it's what they're meant to do.
"By the people for the people", not "the carefully selected best of the people, exercising better judgement than the people" (although one might hope). The Eurocrats might like to pretend they're the latter, but the ultimate power lies in the hands of the former.
The shame of the matter is that this sort of debate is foolish from the get go. Austerity versus Growth suggests that there's a black and white distinction between the two. Simply spending money does not encourage growth any more than being frugal guarantees no growth. The presentation of austerity versus growth as cost cutting versus spending is simplification to a degree that reframes the issue counterproductively.
The question behind the cost effectiveness of any system should be: "How is this creating income?"
Sometimes you spend to create income. Sometimes you cut down on waste to create income. Austere Growth is the unpopular but pragmatic solution. The question is how desperate things will have to become & for how many countries.
Surprise. Austerity was dead the moment it stopped the political classes from paying for what voters demand.
Were those demands reasonable or unreasonable? Realistic or unrealistic?
It doesn't really matter. It is the natural role of the politician to pander to what their voters want - it's what got them their jobs in the first place and it's what they're meant to do.
"By the people for the people", not "the carefully selected best of the people, exercising better judgement than the people" (although one might hope). The Eurocrats might like to pretend they're the latter, but the ultimate power lies in the hands of the former.
The shame of the matter is that this sort of debate is foolish from the get go. Austerity versus Growth suggests that there's a black and white distinction between the two. Simply spending money does not encourage growth any more than being frugal guarantees no growth. The presentation of austerity versus growth as cost cutting versus spending is simplification to a degree that reframes the issue counterproductively.
The question behind the cost effectiveness of any system should be: "How is this creating income?"
Sometimes you spend to create income. Sometimes you cut down on waste to create income. Austere Growth is the unpopular but pragmatic solution. The question is how desperate things will have to become & for how many countries.