The Austerity State

The fall-out from the economic and financial crisis of 2008 had profound implications for countries across the world, leading different states to determine the best approach to mitigating its effects. In The Austerity State, a group of established and emerging scholars tackles the question of why states continue to rely on policies that, on many levels, have failed. After 2008, austerity policies were implemented in various countries, a fact the contributors link to the persistence of neoliberalism and its accepted wisdoms about crisis management. In the immediate aftermath of the 2008 collapse, governments and central banks appeared to adopt a Keynesian approach to salvaging the global economy. This perception is mistaken, the authors argue. The "austerian" analysis of the crisis is ahistorical and shifts the blame from the under-regulated private sector to public, or sovereign, debt for which public authorities are responsible. The Austerity State provides a critical examination of the accepted discourse around austerity measures and explores the reasons behind its continued prevalence in the world.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Bryan Evans (Ryerson University) and Stephen McBride (McMaster University) "The Austerity State: An Introduction" Chapter 2 Gary Teeple (Simon Fraser University) "Austerity: State Indebtedness as Class Struggle" Chapter 3 John Peters (Laurentian University) "Post Democracy and the Politics of Inequality: Explaining Policy Responses to the Financial Crisis and the Great Recession" Chapter 4 Marjorie Cohen (Simon Fraser University) "Austerity’s Role in Economic Crises: The Relationship Between Social Reproduction and Economic Performance" Chapter 5 Stephen McBride and Sorin Mitrea (McMaster University) "Internalizing Neoliberalism and Austerity" Chapter 6 Simon Lee (University of Hull) "Expansionary Fiscal Consolidation and ‘The Smarter State’: An Evaluation of The Politics  of Austerity in The United Kingdom since May 2010" Chapter 7 Brendan K. O’Rourke and John Hogan (Dublin Institute of Technology) "Frugal Comfort from Ireland: Marginal Tales from an Austere Isle" Chapter 8 Stephen McBride (McMaster University) "The New Constitutionalism and Austerity" Chapter 9 Dieter Plehwe (Berlin Social Science Research Centre) "Fighting the Financial Crisis or Consolidating Austerity? The Eurobond Battle Reconsidered" Chapter 10 Bryan Evans (Ryerson University) "Constructing Economic Policy Advice in an Age of Austerity" Chapter 11 Richard Woodward (University of Hull) "Tax Havens in an Austere World: The Clash of New Ideas and Existing Interests" Chapter 12 Heather Whiteside (University of Waterloo) "Profiting Off Austerity: Private Finance for Public Infrastructure" Chapter 13 Stephen Wilks (University of Exeter) "Austerity and Outsourcing in Britain’s New Corporate State" Chapter 14 Meaghan Joy and John Shields (Ryerson University) "Austerity and the Non-Profit Sector: The Case of Social Impact Bonds" Chapter 15 Stephen McBride (McMaster University) and Bryan Evans (Ryerson University) "Conclusion"

About the Author :
Stephen McBride is a professor and Canada Research Chair in Public Policy and Globalization in the Department of Political Science at McMaster University. Bryan Evans is a professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Review :
"The Austerity State’s analyses of the causes and thinking behind the austerity policies of North American and European governments in our time make a very useful contribution to scholarship. The accounts here of the actual practices and social impacts of austerity policies are also so timely and up to date − and so much of the previous literature is broadly and deeply canvassed − that this book can be expected to immediately find its way onto the reading lists of a broad range of university courses." - Leo Panitch, Senior Scholar, Emeritus Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science and Canada Chair in Comparative Political Economy, York University "The Austerity State addresses major themes that are crucial for political economy in our century." - Paul Kellogg, Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies, Athabasca University