The ‘Greek Crisis’ and the Austerity Controversy in Europe

Abstract

The authors maintain that shortly after the outbreak of the 2008 global economic crisis, Greece functioned as a ‘guinea pig’ for shaping the second phase of the project of European Unification. The strategic target of European economic and political elites is to deepen and render irreversible the neoliberal policy framework all over Europe. European authorities argue that this policy framework will promote ‘competitiveness’, which shall reflect in a positive current account balance and a process of export-oriented growth. However, the authors argue that many prominent economists see austerity-led European current account surpluses as the main mechanism creating global imbalances and retarding growth. Nevertheless, these criticisms can hardly explain why neoliberal strategies persist despite ‘failures’. In this chapter, the authors attempt to formulate an answer to this discrepancy on the basis of a Marxist analysis.