For the ‘Stop Austerity’ Campaign, Isabel Ortiz and her team have listed 143 countries whose people are victims of the latest austerity policies. These policies are the result of recommendations given by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank but are avidly accepted by most governments. It is obvious some of the current fiscal problems of countries can be seen as a consequence of the pandemic. However, it is a fact that the post-pandemic shock is much more severe than the post financial crisis shock of 2009.

It looks as ‘old news’, since most countries – an most of all their people – are suffering from the successive fiscal and austerity crises since the 1980s. It is almost unbelievable that 40 years later, these policies are still being pursued and their cumulative consequences are hardly mentioned anymore. We are now living a deep economic and social crisis, coupled to severe threats to democracy and to the planet’s health.

Read the article by Francine Mestrum:

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