Krugman spells it out: the austerians both here and in Europe don’t merely see the pain of economic collapse as an inevitable side-effect of attempting to fix the problem: it’s not a bug but a feature to them:
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I don’t fully understand it. But a large part of it, it seems obvious, is the intense desire to see economics as a morality play of sin and punishment, where the sinners are, of course, workers and governments, not the bankers. Pain is not an unfortunate consequence of policies, it’s what is supposed to happen.
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Krugman concludes with a quote from Martin Wolf (link available from Krugman’s post, but it’s behind a registration wall, so forget my posting it):
The waste is more than unnecessary; it is cruel. Sadists seem to revel in that cruelty. Sane people should reject it. It is wrong, intellectually and morally.
What more need be said? Republicans… including Obama… are true believers in this perverted religion. And have no doubt… they will make sure you are punished for all your imagined economic sins.
Comments
To be fair, political economy pretty much grew out of social/moral philosophy…
Ah, the fascist Austrian School!
Ah yes, the funny little Austrians: http://www.thenation.com/article/163672/charles-koch-friedrich-hayek-use-social-security
BTW, Hayek et al were demonstrably wrong: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-social-welfare-state
Which is I guess why David Brooks et al hate science: http://firedoglake.com/2011/10/02/the-war-on-us/
Thanks, NTodd and MandT. I’m off to read those articles now…
NTodd, 33 years ago I spent a summer in Austria, teaching at a musical institute. Like Hayek, I got sick, far away from home. I have nothing but praise for the treatment I got from an Austrian doctor, and the cost was astonishingly low, even though I am not Austrian. IMHO they did it right, and I wish we had a government with the gumption to do something similar. Not that that will ever happen…
Ach we have a heavy dose of Austerians over here too. Bastards!
Gives the word Stollen new meaning heh?
Haha Good one!
But is “Stollen” Austerian or Austrian in origin?
This is why they continue down the wrong path – they are following a belief system, not an economic theory. They are looking for justification for their greed, and will tolerate no heresy.
Britain is a good example, because they dodged the worst of the collapse, and then the Conservatives came in and have been dragging the British economy down into the quicksand.
Tell me about it Bryan! But don’t forget that our Prime Minister and Chancellor are former juvenile delinquents (albeit very rich and exclusive ones – see the Bulingdon Club) and the Deputy PM is a convicted arsonist…..
At this rate, Tom Lehrer is going to have to write new, economy-related words to “We Will All Go Together When We Go”!
it pains me to quote andrew sullivan on anything, but:
“That too is my view: that the GOP, deep down, is behaving as a religious movement, not as a political party, and a radical religious movement at that. Lofgren sees the “Prosperity Gospel” as a divine blessing for personal enrichment and minimal taxation (yes, that kind of Gospel is compatible with Rand, just not compatible with the actual Gospels); for military power (with a major emphasis on the punitive, interventionist God of the Old Testament); and for radical change and contempt for existing institutions (as a product of End-Times thinking, intensified after 9/11).
Lofgren argues that supply-side economics attaches to the fundamentalist worldview purely by coalition necessity. The fundamentalists are not that interested in debt or economics (they sure didn’t give a damn as spending exploded under Bush) but if their coalition partners insist on a certain economic doctrine, they’ll easily go along with it, as long as it is never compromised. If it’s presented as eternal dogma, they can handle it – and defend it with gusto. If it also means that Obama is wrong, so much the better. Most theo-political movements need an anti-Christ of some sort; and Obama – even though he is the most demonstrably Christian president since Carter – fills the role.”
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/09/goodbye-to-all-that-the-lofgren-thesis.html
“Most theo-political movements need an anti-Christ of some sort; and Obama – even though he is the most demonstrably Christian president since Carter – fills the role.” – Sullivan
And never mind that the real Jesus may well have had darker skin than Barack Obama, not that the theocrats would ever admit that…
Ya stirred it up Steve! Good one, good conversation too!
Thanks, MandT. I love it when you all get cranked up on a thread!
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