The Capital Order

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Clara E. Mattei explores the intellectual origins of austerity to uncover its originating motives: the protection of capital—and indeed capitalism—in times of social upheaval from below.

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Clara E. Mattei explores the intellectual origins of austerity to uncover its originating motives: the protection of capital—and indeed capitalism—in times of social upheaval from below.

Image courtesy of interviewee. December 5, 2023

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This video video discusses the concept of austerity within the framework of capitalism, arguing that austerity is often perceived as a technical solution to economic problems, yet it operates as a political tool supporting the capitalist system. The speaker critiques the tendency to focus on budgetary measures without recognizing the deeper implications of who benefits and who suffers under austerity policies.

Key points include:

1. **Depoliticization of Austerity**: Austerity is often seen merely as a technical approach to balancing budgets, rather than as a project that stabilizes and protects the capitalist order.

2. **Austerity's Impact**: Austerity measures primarily lead to cuts in social expenditures (e.g., housing, education, health care) while subsidizing the wealthy and entities profiting from capital. This video video results in regressive taxation, burdening working people while favoring the elite.

3. **Monetary Policy**: Increases in interest rates (monetary austerity) further disadvantage working individuals by making borrowing harder and exacerbating unemployment, which also suppresses wages.

4. **Industrial Disparity**: Austerity contributes to privatization and strikes against labor rights, diminishing workers' bargaining power and fostering competition.

5. **Historical Context**: The speaker reflects on how the theory and practice of austerity emerged as a response to crises, particularly post-World War I—a time when labor movements sought alternatives to capitalist economic conditions.

6. **Connection to Fascism**: This video video argues that austerity can be effectively implemented in non-democratic contexts, as exemplified by Mussolini's Italy, where repression allowed rigorous austerity measures.

7. **Economic Theory and Class Struggle**: Austerity is tied to the dominance of neoclassical economics, which often strengthens elite interests at the expense of democratic governance and social equity.

8. **Resilience of Austerity**: Despite critiques from economic literature regarding its effectiveness, austerity persists as a feature of capitalist societies, protecting elite interests and undermining alternatives.

9. **Call to Action**: The speaker urges collective political engagement to challenge austerity's role in perpetuating inequality and environmental crises, advocating for a re-envisioning of economic systems that prioritize the needs of the majority.

Overall, the text posits that austerity is not just an economic strategy but a politically motivated mechanism that reinforces socio-economic hierarchies, and encourages a reexamination of economic policies in light of their social implications.

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This is a question that, ought to be answered

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because not only is the term by now rarely used,

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and not because it doesn't happen, but

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because it's kind of synonymous with virtuous,

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and prudent economic policy.

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But when it is used, is used in a way that tends

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to depoliticize austerity in the sense

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that it is not really understood as a powerful project

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to stabilize what is fundamental to our capitalist economy.

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Um, it is rather understood as a technical toolbox to

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toolbox that only serves to deal with balancing the budget

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and, and, promoting growth.

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In the work I do, I really try to look at austerity as,

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a tool to foster

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what is foundational to a capitalist economy,

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meaning the capital order, and this is indeed the title

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and austerity needs

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to be understood in the sense much more than just

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budget cuts and PR and tax increases.

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This definition in its own, it's a definition

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that economists love because it tells you very little of

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who wins and who loses

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because it tends to look at the aggregate.

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The question is not, just budget cuts.

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It's where the state decides to cut and the state, cuts.

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Um, what we see is under the austerity state is a state

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that cuts social expenditures, so housing, education,

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healthcare, all the social benefits, while it

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actively subsidizes the elite

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and those who make income out of capital.

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So military, industrial complex bail out banks,

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de-risking, private asset managers

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and for example, the green turn.

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All of this is, again, it's not about if the state spends,

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it's where the state spends,

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and it's not whether the state taxes,

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but who the state taxes.

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And this is why we have to look at the fact

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that austerity is regressive taxation, meaning

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that taxes do increase on the working people,

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but they actually diminish

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and structurally diminish for those at the top.

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So inheritance tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax,

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all of this, are usually drastically curtailed.

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And this is fiscal austerity.

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Then we have monetary austerity that works with it.

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And monetary austerity is increases in interest rates,

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something that we have been become quite familiar

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with in the last year and a half, throughout the globe.

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And increases interest rate is not just a technical tool

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to manage inflation because it actually hits,

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once more working people.

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It hits working people

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because, not only it makes it more difficult to borrow,

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but the reality is that it actually, kills,

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the labor market.

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It, increases unemployment

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and unemployment serves as a disciplinary mechanism

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to keep wages low.

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And, our, lives more precarious

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and in competition with other workers.

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And then we have industrial disparity in which the state

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directly intervenes to curb the bargaining power

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of workers by privatizing.

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So increasing the competition in the private sector

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and the dependence on in personal market forces, cutting

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wages, deregulating labor, all of these measures.

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So the austerity trinity, if you like, is very important

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to keep in mind as a systematic, force

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because fiscal, monetary,

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industrial austerity work reinforcing one another.

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And moreover, it tells you that fiscal

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and monetary issues are not something separate

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from our daily lives.

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They actually hit us primarily as working people

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and really do shape our possibilities to exist.

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The theoretical, results, about

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how Sta serves a purpose, I discovered by looking at

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a precise historical moment,

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a historical moment in which we could say the system

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underwent a profound economic crisis.

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And this was, the period after the first world war.

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Um, and, and when I talk about crisis

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of our economic system, I mean a real challenge

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of the basic pillars that make up our capitalist economy,

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meaning wage relations, again, the fact that the majority

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of us is forced and has no other option

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but to go work for a wage and usually a low wage

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and have very little agency on how they work,

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and of course do not get

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to keep the output of, of their work.

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And finally, private property

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of the means of production.

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So, after the first World War triggered by the

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great experiments that the Great War had brought about on

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how the economy could be ac actually understood differently

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and managed, much more politically.

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This is a moment in which workers, in many places

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around the world, but especially also in Western Europe,

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which is something that historians have not paid enough

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attention to, really were demanding,

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and were enacting a lot of experiments

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to overcome capitalist relations

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to actually promote production for use,

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democracy in the workplace.

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Um, really a different understanding of

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how we can organize production and distribution.

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It is here in this moment of exceptional crisis

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of capitalism that, austerity emerges very vividly

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as a reaction,

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to foreclose these alternatives to capitalism.

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So what you see is that there's a very strong alliance

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between economists, who are brought to advise,

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governments and these governments in order

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to impose the austerity trinity

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and thus compel people to accept

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that there is really no alternative.

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Of course, these policies that had the, result

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of weakening workers went with, this theory

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that justifies these policies,

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and this theory is still very powerful today.

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So what I tried to do is actually look at the

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origins of austerity.

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That is also the moment in which mainstream economics,

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started becoming dominant

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and still dominates our economic textbooks

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and our brains, as we speak.

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So it is interesting to notice

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how actually neoclassical economics has a story

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that is deeply, deeply ingrained in the class struggle

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and deeply, deeply, utilized to actually quash demands

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for an alternative society.

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What I, explore is

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how actually austerity is quite structural to capitalism,

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because again, of this necessity

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to preserve the capital order, which is the title

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of the book, again, capital meaning the social relation

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that is at the basis of the possibility of economic growth,

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of money accumulation, is the fact

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that the majority is technically exploited.

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Meaning that we do not, we actually produce much more value

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as workers than the value we get to keep, in our,

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and that we get in our paychecks.

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So, understood in these terms, we understand

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that austerity is structurally repressive,

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and what happens is that actually austerity functions quite

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well in societies that have given up any form of democracy.

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And this is why, I look at the case of,

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the originator of fascism, Benito Mussolini in my work,

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and really show how Mussolini strengthened his power

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because of his capacity

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to implement austerity so effectively.

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And he could do that, of course,

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because he, jailed political opposition,

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made strikes illegal, and so made unions illegal.

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But at the same time, he did this well

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because he received the support of a lot of the elites

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of the establishment that understood that it was only

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through a strong repressive state

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that one could implement austerity.

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So effectively, and this happens throughout the history,

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we can just, mention the case of Pino, she

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and Sheila that is most known.

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Um, but this is just the extreme place in which you really

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see how austerity

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to safeguard capitalism works very well hand

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in hand with fascism.

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The reality is that unfortunately, we see how,

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it is kind of a tendency of our economic system,

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and the type of political organization that goes with it

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to insulate decision making,

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that regard the fundamentals about our economy,

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from democratic processes.

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So the, ne necessity to actually expel

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and, people from participating in decisions,

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for example, about monetary policies

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or fiscal policies that we take

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for granted are left in the hands of the experts.

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But this has been actively institutionally constructed

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because in moments in which people do want to participate,

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as it has happened after the first World War,

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in which people understood

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that the economy was not a natural given,

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it was actually a political outcome,

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and thus things could take different priorities from the one

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of private capital accumulation.

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This is a moment in which then experts worked very

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intelligently to create these spaces

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for technocratic decision making in which people were really

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let, let out of the conversation.

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And the typical example is of course,

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central bank independence that we take again, as something

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that we accept, but has a history.

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And the history was the experts, of my book, in,

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in-house economists of the British Treasury

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tell Ralph Hatchery, who was telling everyone

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how the central bank, the Bank of England should be capable

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of never explaining, never regretting,

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and never apologizing exactly,

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because it was clear that monetary austerity required,

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to stabilize the capitalist economy went

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with the sacrifice of the majority.

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And if the majority did participate in these decisions,

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they would clearly potentially pick another route.

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So it is very interesting that I would say yes.

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The reality is that if we want a, a prudent, management

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of the capitalist economy, this has to go with,

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excluding people from participating

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and from claiming agency.

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And this is something that we need to keep in mind

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because fascism is one case,

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but then there's all these ways

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that in which this can become

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institutionalized in many countries.

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Now, there's balanced budgets in the constitution, right?

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So a way to actually eliminate any conversation

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that is political about questions that then have to just

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been taken just accepted by citizens.

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The whole purpose of the book,

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and the reason why I wanted

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to look at austerity historically was to try

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to answer the question, why is austerity so resilient?

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Why is it that

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after there's all this literature of kings in economics

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that tells you that actual austerity is bad policy

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because it does not achieve the goal

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of increasing growth necessarily,

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nor does it most of the time,

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help actually balance the budget.

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Um, why is it then that it constantly shapes,

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capitalist societies?

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And I would say that it is indeed a structural feature

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of capitalism dating from the very beginnings of,

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of the history of our society, right?

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It just becomes more visible after the first world war.

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But the reality is that austerity was in place just not

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noticed, before,

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and it continues to be how is it that is so resilient

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after there is so much, you know, scientific literature

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that tells you that, it doesn't make much sense?

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This is where I think we need to really take,

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Take seriously the fact that,

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the economy is a political, sphere

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and it's about class struggle

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and how, you know, truth

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or, non-truth, need

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to be understood in a political sense

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of mobilizing forces in the direction that actually

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preserve, in a way the power of the elite

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and preserve our society as one

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that is indeed based on the subordination of the majority.

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So we could say, you know, austerity works,

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if you look at it from a point of view of who it protects,

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it protects the foundation of capitalism

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and it does protect, the winners of our system who

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of course are very, very few.

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Um, so in this sense, if you look at it from the lens

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of class struggle, it is a very, very powerful weapon to,

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maintain capitalism in place

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as the only possible system.

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And of course, especially by weakening our imagination

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for an alternative society.

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Because if we have to spend a majority of our time,

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working in order to pay for our health, to pay

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for our education, to have a house to avoid, you know,

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going hungry, this is how the majority of the people live

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around the globe is worried about their like bare survival.

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And this means that this impedes any understanding of us

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as political agents that can take action

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because the time left

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for political discussion is of course very little.

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Now, you could tell me, does this work in general,

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what I would like to say is that under capitalism,

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and this is important, we don't live in an

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economy in general.

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We live specifically in a capitalist economy

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and in a capitalist economy, there's nothing

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that works in general.

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It als always works for some

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and to the detriment, of others.

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And so this is very important is to expose once more

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how capitalism and democracy are not necessarily compatible.

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Neither is capitalism and the wellbeing of people.

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So, this is where, we can say

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how does it work for the benefit of people?

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Of course not. And we see this everywhere from Britain

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to the United States, to South Africa, to even Sweden

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where I was last week,

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presenting the translated version of the book.

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Um, even places where we think there must be a great life,

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actually, there's impoverishment,

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there is constant privatization attacks on welfare

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and regressive taxes.

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So we can say, how long can this work for? Right?

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How long can we actually keep impoverishing, the majority

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actually, bringing all of these countries in the south

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of a globe to the brick of collapse, right?

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SSRI Lanka is just one case of the fact that the IMF,

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the International Monetary Fund has been insisting on

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austerity policies on these countries for decades,

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and the result is a disaster

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because they have been expropriate of everything.

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Multinational corporations own everything

14:40.025 --> 14:41.805
and the people have nothing left.

14:42.465 --> 14:45.245
Um, this I think again, exposes

14:45.245 --> 14:47.205
how capitalism is a system without a vision.

14:47.495 --> 14:49.685
There is no long-term vision for the future

14:49.685 --> 14:52.405
of humanity under capitalism because that's not its logic.

14:52.585 --> 14:54.965
The logic of capital accumulation is a short term,

14:55.465 --> 14:56.845
myopic logic.

14:56.985 --> 14:59.365
Individualistic logic is not the logic

14:59.365 --> 15:01.405
that looks at the collective at the whole

15:01.465 --> 15:04.405
and the future of, humankind.

15:04.785 --> 15:07.005
And this is where I think we will see

15:07.005 --> 15:10.485
that austerity does produce even greater contradictions,

15:10.485 --> 15:13.525
even greater crisis, both in terms of inequality

15:13.585 --> 15:15.205
and in terms of climate disasters.

15:15.425 --> 15:17.805
And this is where I think it is the case

15:17.805 --> 15:19.525
that people then have to step in

15:20.025 --> 15:23.205
and even if they're oppressed by austerity, if we understand

15:23.225 --> 15:24.725
how it operates, and we understand

15:24.725 --> 15:28.405
that economists are not neutral actors that should do what

15:29.335 --> 15:32.725
stuff instead of us, if we then want to really understand

15:32.745 --> 15:35.965
how economics is political and our system is political

15:36.345 --> 15:37.805
and fundamental and just this is

15:37.805 --> 15:40.885
where I think we can start mobilizing indeed

15:40.905 --> 15:43.725
to create the type of society in which we can discuss the

15:43.725 --> 15:47.205
economy as being something that works for everyone,

15:47.225 --> 15:48.365
or at least for the majority.

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