Naomi Klein documents much of the damage in The Shock Doctrine. Whenever there was a financial crisis somewhere, pressure would be brought upon that country to cut benefits for citizens, open markets, and diminish government oversight and regulation.
The pressure would come from a variety of sources, including the United States government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), both of which were stacked with economists from the Chicago School and its gaggle of ideological free-marketeers.
From 1970's Chile to the collapsing Soviet Union, it was always the same story: Privatize everything and the market--Blessed be It, the Merciful, the Compassionate--would make everything come out right. What actually happened is that the bandits made out like bandits, as anyone with two wits to rub together should have known.
One may now add Ireland to the list. Massive debt was wrung up by the plutocrats and now the people of Ireland are left holding the bag. Plutocrats have a party, the public picks up the tab--and, even worse, has to endure the recession caused by the plutocrats, coupled with cuts in public assistance from the government. Telegraph (UK):
Ireland's minimum wage is to be cut 13 per cent and all Irish households face a new £257 property tax from 2012. Welfare payments, including jobseekers allowance and child benefit, will be cut five per cent or £2.5 billion.
Breaking a previous agreement with Irish trade unions, the public sector payroll will be cut by £847 million with 27,000 civil service jobs lost.
Francisco Fahlman was a Roman Catholic priest in Peru and friend of mine who died a few years ago. Back in the 1980's, "liberal economics" was all the rage in Peru. ("Liberal economics" is what they call free market-ism in Latin America.)
Presidential candidate Fujimori was pushing it, and Fr. Fahlman voted for him when he first ran. He did not vote for Fujimori when he ran for re-election because, as Fr. Fahlman acidly said it, "Liberal economics 'helps' poor people by getting rid of poor people."
We've been peddling this crapola around the globe for decades, to the immense pain of the peoples of the world, and to the immense financial benefit of the plutocrats. Yet, despite the blatant thievery, Serious People, bought and paid for by plutocrats, tell us we need to do the same thing here.
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