Tag Archives: Austerity

Angela Merkel has been forced to postpone German ratification of the eurozone’s “fiskalpakt” until after an Irish referendum on May 31 by a gathering domestic and European backlash against austerity.

 

Now this is getting interesting.

Eurozone Crisis: Angela Merkel Forced To Postpone ‘Fiskalpakt’ Ratification (Telegraph)

From The New York Times:

From trading floors to polling stations to the streets of cities across Europe, the message appears increasingly to be that countries cannot cut their way to fiscal health. They need growth, too.

Taking advantage of growing voter outrage, fringe parties like the Greek ultranationalist group Golden Dawn and France’s far-right National Front, which won nearly one in five votes Sunday, are gaining strength, evoking comparisons to the Weimar era, which ushered the Nazi Party into power.

“The formula is not working, and everyone is now talking about whether austerity is the only solution,” said Jordi Vaquer i Fanés, a political scientist and director of the Barcelona Center for International Affairs in Spain. “Does this mean that  [Angela] Merkel has lost completely? No. But it does mean that the very nature of the debate about the euro-zone crisis is changing.”

Call for Growth Rises to Counter German Push for Austerity (New York Times)

Europe’s Elites Feel The Backlash (Ian Traynor, Guardian)

THE NETHERLANDS is on the verge of a general election this morning after the collapse of austerity talks aimed at bringing its budget deficit within EU limits by 2013 – giving rise to new concerns that it could also now lose its coveted triple-A international credit rating.

Triple-a, eh?

The package being finalised is believed to have proposed increasing the state pension age to 66 in 2015 rather than 2020, a cut of €750 million in development aid, a new €9 charge for every medical prescription, the abolition of tax relief on interest-only mortgages, cuts in subsidies to public broadcasters, an increase in VAT, and an across-the-board freeze in public sector salaries and benefits.

What? No household charge? Puh-lease.

Dutch Government On Verge Of Collapse After Talks Fail (Irish Times)

Meanwhile:

As voters in France also delivered their initial verdict on who should lead them for the next five years, and whether they would favor more austerity or stimulating growth, the Czech government was rattled this weekend by popular protests against budget cuts and increased hardship.

 

Netherlands Pushes for Austerity Cuts Even As Debt Crisis Deals Blow To Leadership (New York Times)

Mark Rutte pic (3DN/The Holland Bureau)

 

Germany’s Bundesbank tells troubled European nations to stop focusing on trivial things like “growth” and “recovery” and just GET MIT ZE AUSTERITY, JA?