Neoliberalism is an ideology and a compulsion

Mike Whitney and Dean Baker argue that those leading the European Central Bank, the European Union, and the International Monetary Fund (The Troika) find it difficult to experience the world but through the lens of their idiotic economic theory. Baker had the recent opportunity to observe the Troika in action. He drew this conclusion:

There is no economic reasoning behind the troika’s positions. For practical purposes, Greece and the other debt-burdened countries are dealing with crazy people. The pain being imposed is not a route to economic health; rather it is a gruesome bleeding process that will only leave the patient worse off. The economic doctors at the troika are clueless when it comes to understanding a modern economy.

Mike Whitney’s analysis affirms Baker’s assessment. Whitney notes that, “If Greece’s €130 billion loan was going to be used for fiscal stimulus, then it might be worth the commitment. Because that kind of money could put a lot people back to work and kick-start the economy fast.” Yet…he continues by observing:

But the loan isn’t going to be used for stimulus. It’s going to be used to recapitalize the banks and pay off creditors, neither of which will do anything to boost activity or create jobs. So, why bother? Why dig an even deeper hole if it achieves nothing? If that’s the case, then Greece should just default now and start rebuilding the economy ASAP. There’s no point in putting it off any longer.

Indeed, why would Greece accept the bitter medicine dispensed by the European Union?

The troika (the European Central Bank, the European Union, and the International Monetary Fund) is demanding another €3 billion in spending cuts even though unemployment is tipping 20 percent and the economy shrank 7 percent in the last quarter. What sense does that make? You don’t have to be a genius to figure out that Greece won’t reach its budget targets if tax revenues continue to fall because everyone’s either been laid off or taking a pay-cut. It will just make a bad situation even worse. But the troika doesn’t worry about these type of things. They don’t care that their lamebrain economic theories have failed miserably so far, or that their austerity measures have been a complete flop. They just keep plugging along making the same mistakes over and over again, impervious to the criticism of reputable economists, oblivious to the abysmal results, they remain steadfast in their commitment to belt tightening, sure that a strict diet of breadcrumbs and water is the best way to nurse an ailing economy back to health. It doesn’t bother them that the facts prove otherwise.

An austerity politics entails personal suffering for many people. It immiserates them by design. This effect is considered a feature of an austerity regime. And the Greeks have already suffered, as we know. But an austerity politics also makes little sense during a recession. It is a policy regime a crazy person recommends.

The upshot: The government of Greece, if it were rational, would take the Argentinean path to recovery. Country debt and risk are not perpetual prison sentences. If Greece were to take this path, it would default on its obligations and exit the European Union (advocated here). It ought to do so because its current predicament and the proposed — or imposed — ‘remedy’ for it will only serve to transfer wealth to the financial institutions holding Greece’s debt and, of course, to plunder the country of those assets worth owning (discussed by Michael Hudson here). Greek “have-nots” have and continue to protest this imperial imposition on their country. It is rational for them to do this just as it is rational for the Greek government default on its financial obligations and jettison the Euro.

Related articles

• Greece gets a reprieve, but crisis not over (money.cnn.com)
• €130bn plaster leaves Greece independent in name only (guardian.co.uk)
• Greece bailout: UK faces added £1bn bill to save crisis-hit euro (dailymail.co.uk)
• Greece bailout: six key elements of the deal (guardian.co.uk)
• Greece to cut minimum wage in troika deal: report (marketwatch.com)
• Greek PM office: Agreement with troika completed (marketwatch.com)
• Eurozone agrees €130bn bail-out for Greece (telegraph.co.uk)
• Despite riots, Greece pushes ahead with austerity (csmonitor.com)
• Dutch demand ‘permanent’ control in Greece (business.financialpost.com)
• Christine Legarde’s IMF Jenga Gambit (ayannanahmias.com)
• Austerity Push in Greece Leaves Citizens Hungry for Alternatives (ibtimes.com)
• Greece, troika reach staff-level deal: minister (marketwatch.com)
• You: Greece reaches deal on austerity (nation.com.pk)

Related articles

• Austerity Push in Greece Leaves Citizens Hungry for Alternatives (ibtimes.com)
• Greece, troika reach staff-level deal: minister (marketwatch.com)
• You: Greece reaches deal on austerity (nation.com.pk)