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The role of belief in the case for austerity policies

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  • Sheila C Dow

Abstract

Mainstream economists give the misleading impression that their argument for austerity is purely technical and indeed the most ‘scientific’. The argument developed here is that their reasoning is not, any more than that of their heterodox critics, independent of ideology, power and ethics. The widespread belief in austerity policies as scientifically justified has prevented arguments against austerity gaining more traction; issues of ideology, power and ethics need to be brought to the fore as part of the arguments on both sides. In other words, awareness of the epistemological issues arising from an open-system ontology is critical to understanding the crisis and the policy response, and therefore to challenging that understanding and encouraging a radical policy shift. The critique of austerity policies would therefore be strengthened by a critique of the mainstream’s rhetorical (mis)representation of economic theorising.

Suggested Citation

  • Sheila C Dow, 2015. "The role of belief in the case for austerity policies," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 26(1), pages 29-42, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecolab:v:26:y:2015:i:1:p:29-42
    DOI: 10.1177/1035304614567262
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    Cited by:

    1. João Ferreira do Amaral & João Carlos Lopes, 2016. "Self-Defeating Austerity? Assessing the Impact of Fiscal Consolidations on Unemployment," Working Papers Department of Economics 2016/13, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    2. João Carlos Lopes & João Ferreira do Amaral, 2017. "Self-defeating austerity? Assessing the impact of a fiscal consolidation on unemployment," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 28(1), pages 77-90, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Belief; fiscal austerity; science;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B4 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology
    • E1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory

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