Austerity means to aggressive CUTS to spending in many different sectors. Much, much worse than not keeping up with rising maintenance demands. The UK for exam

Austerity means to aggressive CUTS to spending in many different sectors. Much, much worse than not keeping up with rising maintenance demands. The UK for example made deep cuts to healthcare and education, cost a lot of people jobs right at the worst possible time (on the heels of the Great Recession). Many smaller worse off countries did even worse. The austerity in Europe was far, far worse than anything that was happening in the US. The US government finance establishment for whatever reason was not infected by that particular bug. The US passed a large stimulus bill and in general was in a stimulus mindset. Europe on the other hand thought it could cut its way out of a crisis.