Austerity is the policy for when the money runs out. Neoliberalism is the convenient scapegoat for that fact. Practically all the countries that are under "aus

Austerity is the policy for when the money runs out. Neoliberalism is the convenient scapegoat for that fact. Practically all the countries that are under "austerity" (few of the policies actually implemented in these countries fit the dictionary definition of "austerity", except perhaps Greece) were following supposedly Keynesian policies of spending in downturns, except they forgot the bit about consolidating in upturns. The 00's were a huge upturn, yet most of the countries now under austerity were spending freely. Then the crash hit, and they had to spend even more, and then came a downturn and suddenly spending was actually problematic. But yeah, economic liberals are the bad guys, and they were also the bad guys 10-15 years ago when they warned that governments should step back, consolidate and prepare for a rainy day.