Wednesday, January 11, 2012

More Evidence that Austerity Collapses Economies and Destroys Public Welfare



Washington Post: In Greece, fears that austerity is killing the economy By Anthony Faiola, Published: January 10

[Excerpted] "...Does austerity really work?

Unemployment has surged to 18.8 percent from 13.3 percent only a year ago. Overburdened public hospitals are facing acute shortages of everything from syringes to bandages because of budget cuts, with hiring freezes forcing the mothballing of operating rooms even as more unemployed are relying on the public health system. Rates of homelessness, suicide, crime and HIV cases from intravenous drug use are jumping....

'Conditions have deteriorated so dramatically that doctors in this country now believe that the Greek crisis is no longer just a financial crisis but a humanitarian crisis,' said Dimitris Varnavas, the president of the Federation of Greek Hospital Doctors’ Unions."

MAJIA HERE: I've commented quite extensively on austerity, demonstrating that it is being enforced by elite interests to reduce their tax burden and enforce privatization of services and government assets. 

Corporations and financial entities like hedge funds can swoop in as assets are being privatized and buy up property and infrastructure (e.g., state capitol buildings) at fire-sale prices.

Austerity-enforced government spending cuts and neoliberal reforms simultaneously impoverish populations, while decimating health and education.

Austerity has turned into a formula for elite looting of nations.

Austerity is a tool for implementing neo-feudalism.

Here are some of my former comments. The first link is a detailed discussion excerpted from my research:








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