Justifications[edit]
Austerity measures are typically pursued if there is a threat that a government cannot honour its debt obligations. This may occur when a government has borrowed in foreign currencies (that it has no right to issue), or if it has been legally forbidden from issuing its own currency.
In such a situation, banks and investors may lose confidence in a government's ability and/or willingness to pay, and either refuse to roll over existing debts, or demand extremely high interest rates. International financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may demand austerity measures as part of Structural Adjustment Programmes when acting as lender of last resort.
Austerity policies may also appeal to the wealthier class of creditors, who prefer low inflation and the higher probability of payback on their government securities by less profligate governments.[6] More recently austerity has been pursued after governments became highly indebted by assuming private debts following banking crises. (This occurred after Ireland assumed the debts of its private banking sector during the European debt crisis. This rescue of the private sector resulted in calls to cut back the profligacy of the public sector.)[7]
According to Mark Blyth, the theories and sensibilities about the role of the state and capitalist markets which underline austerity emerged in the 17th century, but the concept of austerity emerged in the 20th century, when large states acquired sizable budgets. Austerity is grounded in liberal economists' views that state and sovereign debt are deeply problematic.
Blyth traces the discourse of austerity back to John Locke's theory of private property and derivative theory of the state, David Hume's ideas about money and the virtue of merchants, and Adam Smith's theories on economic growth and taxes. On the basis of classic liberal ideas austerity emerged as a doctrine of neoliberalism in the 20th Century.[8]
Economist David M Kotz suggests that the implementation of austerity measures following the financial crisis of 2007–08 was an attempt to preserve the "neoliberal capitalist model".[9]