Austerity news from Around the Globe

Austerity is a Four-Letter French Word FXstreet.com Austerity is a four-letter Anglo-Saxon – or even worse, Teutonic – word in socialist France, yet the market at some point is going to want to see a move toward sustainable budgets. Government bond investors are not philanthropists. They look for the … See all stories on this topic »   Austerity drains economic life Yorkshire Post THE latest statistics confirm that wages are increasing by well under the inflation rate, at the same time as benefits for those of working age are rising at just one per cent a year. So I’m not surprised that the economy is still struggling, as people … See all stories on this topic »   Scottish independence: ‘No’ vote austerity warning Scotsman But Labour leader Johann Lamont insisted that an independent Scotland would face even harsherausterity than the UK amid concerns that SNP “big business” tax breaks will see major job cuts. The leaders clashed today during the final First Ministers … See all stories on this topic »   Portugal: 5 million participated in general strike, say unions   Patience with the government’s austerity plan is running thin in Portugal with banners reading ‘Enough’ and ‘Government Out’. In their fourth general strike in two… read full article  Austerity: ‘unprecedented erosion’ in living standards The Guardian If you thought you were feeling the pinch, here’s probably why. Rising prices, stagnant wages and benefit cuts are creating an “unprecedented erosion” in living standards, especially for low and middle income families, according to new research from … See all stories on this topic »   Stuff your austerity! We want something different New Internationalist (blog) The idea of the Peoples Assemblies is to create a mass national and local movement against austerity. Saturday’s event brought together people of all ages and walks of life – trade unionists, direct activists, students, pensioners, hackers, disabled … See all stories on this topic » Social Justice Ireland says austerity not working RTE.ie “Austerity is not working for Ireland. Government has cut spending, raised taxes, increased unemployment, lowered wages, decimated services and allowed infrastructure to deteriorate on the understanding that austerity would lead to recovery … See all stories on this topic » Austerity leaves bitter taste as Leinster House sweet shop shuts Irish Times It was the Taj Mahjal of the mint humbug, the Southfork of the chocolate snowball, the Buckingham Palace of the fruit pastille. The notorious Leinster House sweetie shop – that glass walled monument to the Celtic Tiger notions of a discredited … See all stories on this topic »

Miliband’s offer of austerity in a red rosette is failing voters New Statesman If austerity is wrong and counter-productive when the Tories do it, it will be wrong and counter-productive whoever does it. Austerity in a red rosette is no less brutal and damaging than in a blue one. In failing to articulate a clear economic … See all stories on this topic »

Portuguese businesses attack austerity, urge U turn GlobalPost Portuguese business leaders launched on Monday a strong attack on austerity conditions tied to the EU-IMF bailout of the economy, saying that they had failed and the government should change direction to save the country from “recession”. See all stories on this topic »

Union warns austerity will spur growth of ‘zero hours’ contracts Financial Times Austerity will spur the use of zero hours contracts, as more public sector work is outsourced to providers who rely on the ultimate flexible employment option, a think tank and union have said. The contracts, which offer no guaranteed work, are being … See all stories on this topic »

Discredited Pro-Austerity Research Gets New Love From World’s Central Bank Huffington Post Our world’s troubling austerity deficit is actually not the main message of the BIS’ 76-page opus, but an entire chapter, “Fiscal sustainability: Where do we stand?” is dedicated to the topic. And this chapter sounds a rallying cry for more austerity … See all stories on this topic » Austerity Loses in Massachusetts The Nation. Gomez ran as a classic proponent of austerity. He proposed to balance budgets on the backs of working families and retirees. The Republican nominee supported raising the retirement age for Social Security benefits for future retirees and he wanted to … See all stories on this topic »   France’s Austerity Drive Pushes Country into Recession IBTimes.co.uk France’s drive to slash spending and debt by implementing strict austerity measures has pushed the country into recession, confirmed the government’s statistics office. In the first quarter of 2013, French gross domestic product (GDP) in volume … See all stories on this topic »   Lying about austerity serves “special interests” People’s World A few weeks ago, the most prestigious apologists for austerity in the economics profession, Ken Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart of Harvard University – now known as R & R – were brought up short when a blatant spreadsheet error in their published work … See all stories on this topic »   ‘Greece to avoid more austerity’ Independent Online Athens – Greece’s Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said on Tuesday avoiding new austeritymeasures to fulfill targets in the country’s international bailout was a priority of his two-party coalition government. “Our immediate priority is to return to … See all stories on this topic »   Greece: Austerity Doesn’t Involve Public-Sector Layoffs Heritage.org (blog) Slate’s Matthew Yglesias might be attacked as an “austerity denier” now that he has joined Heritage’s Salim Furth in pointing out that there is a lot of policy diversity under the broad label of “austerity.” Yglesias explained last week why a small but … See all stories on this topic »  Austerity support frays at edges among EU smaller fiscal hawks Financial Times Since the financial crisis swept through Europe four years ago, the bloc’s triple-A rated economies have been vociferous backers of controversial austerity measures as the solution to the continent’s woes. Yet as the crisis drags on, unemployment rises … See all stories on this topic »   Austerity Remains Key to Britain’s Economic Plan New York Times (blog) LONDON — Extended spending cuts, including a fresh squeeze on welfare payments, were announced by the British government on Wednesday, ensuring that the politics of austerity remain firmly center stage in the run-up to the country’s next elections. See all stories on this topic »   UK austerity: ‘Diverting money from poor to rich under guise of economic crisis’ RT (blog) The UK’s austerity policy is ideologically driven and is aimed at diverting finance from the poor to the rich under the pretext of the economic crisis, writer John Wight told RT. Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is announcing … See all stories on this topic »   Portuguese Workers Strike to Say Austerity Has Gone Too Far Wall Street Journal LISBON—A nationwide strike froze public-transport services and shrank hospital staffs across Portugal on Thursday amid a growing consensus among workers and businesses that austerity has reached its limit. Protests and strikes have become common … See all stories on this topic »   Austerity Britain rolls on Morning Star Online In the run-up to George Osborne’s spending review, the Sunday TV discussion programmes ran with their usual carefully selected commentators. All of them accepted that there have to be cuts in public expenditure. There was not an alternative policy on … See all stories on this topic »   Britain sugars austerity pill with infrastructure boost euronews LONDON (Reuters) – Chancellor George Osborne unveiled a new round of spending cuts on Wednesday, but promised to pump some of the savings straight back into the economy to counter charges of excessive austerity. In a speech to parliament … See all stories on this topic »  More spending cuts for Britain, but austerity pill is sugared Reuters UK LONDON (Reuters) – Chancellor George Osborne unveiled spending cuts on Wednesday to try to tame the country’s big public deficit, but promised to reinvest some of the money saved to counter criticism of excessive austerity. In a speech to parliament, … See all stories on this topic »     Austerity? It’s hardly begun! Chancellor Osborne tightens the purse strings … This is Money But for all the talk of austerity, government spending is set to rise from £720billion this year to £745billion in 2015/16 – the year the latest cuts take place. Over the same period, tax receipts are expected to rise from £612billion to £658billion … See all stories on this topic »