European University Institute Library

Architects of austerity, international finance and the politics of growth, Aaron Major

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-242) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Architects of austerity

bibliography

862041466

Aaron Major

international finance and the politics of growth

Architects of Austerity argues that the seeds of neoliberal politics were sown in the 1950s and 1960s. Suggesting that the postwar era was less socially democratic than we think, Aaron Major presents a comparative-historical analysis of economic policy in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy during the early 1960s. In each of these cases, domestic politics shifted to the left and national governments repudiated the conservative economic policies of the past, promising a new way forward. Yet, these social democratic experiments were short-lived and deeply compromised. Why did the parties of change become the parties of austerity? Studies of social welfare policy in these countries have emphasized domestic factors. However, Major reveals that international social forces profoundly shaped national decisions in these cases. The turn toward more conservative economic policies resulted from two critical shifts on the international stage. International monetary organizations converged around an orthodox set of ideas, and a set of institutional transformations within the Bretton Woods system made the monetary community more central to financial management. These changes gave central banks and treasuries the capacity to impose their ideas on national governments.--, Provided by publisher

Crisis, austerity, and the neoliberal turn -- The architects of austerity -- The question of growth in a global economy -- Opening and closing the door on the Italian left -- The erratic march of Labour -- Global finance and the U.S. growth agenda -- Guns, butter, and gold -- Globalization, coercion, and the resiliency of austerity