Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-5wvtr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-22T17:31:40.194Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Austerity Decade 2010-20

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2020

Isabel Ortiz  and
Matthew Cummins
Isabel Ortiz
Affiliation:
Global Social Justice Program, Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Columbia University, US E-mail: isabel.ortiz@ymail.com
Matthew Cummins
Affiliation:
UNDP, UNICEF, World Bank E-mail: matthewwcummins@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the wake of the financial, food and fuel crises, a fourth ‘F’ shockwave hit the global economy in 2010: fiscal adjustment. It would mark the onset of a prolonged period of budget cuts that is now projected to continue at least through 2020 in high-income and developing countries alike. This article: (i) examines International Monetary Fund (IMF) government spending projections for 187 countries from 2005 to 2020, indicating a decade of austerity from 2010 onwards; (ii) reviews 616 IMF country reports in 183 countries to identify the main adjustment measures; and (iii) discusses the negative impacts of austerity on jobs and welfare, pointing to alternative policies to identify fiscal space for equitable and sustainable development. Note that this analysis was done prior to COVID-19, and the estimates for 2019 and 2020 reflect pre-pandemic projections.

Keywords

Austerityfinancial crisisfiscal adjustmentsustainable development
Type
Themed Section: A Hostile Decade for Social Policy: Economic Crisis, Political Crisis and Austerity 2010-20
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , January 2021 , pp. 142 - 157
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Berg, J. (ed.) (2015) Labour Markets, Institutions and Inequality: Building Just Societies in the 21st Century, Geneva: ILO and Edward Elgar.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birdsall, N. and Nellis, J. (2005) ‘Privatization reality check: distributional effects on developing countries’, in Nellis, J. (ed.), Reality Check: The Distributional Impact of Privatization in Developing Countries, Washington, D.C.: Center for Global Development.Google Scholar
Cantillon, B., Chzhen, Y., Handa, S. and Nolan, B. (eds) (2017) Children of Austerity: Impact of the Great Recession on Child Poverty in Rich Countries, Oxford: UNICEF and Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) (2012) Fiscal Fallacies: 8 Myths about the ‘Age Of Austerity’ and Human Rights Responses, Rights in Crisis Series Briefing Paper, July 2012, New York: CESR.Google Scholar
Compton, J., Wiggins, S. and Keats, S. (2010) Impact of the Global Food Crisis on the Poor: What is the Evidence?, London: Overseas Development Institute.Google Scholar
Cornia, G. A., Jolly, R. and Stewart, F. (1987) Adjustment with a Human Face: Protecting the Vulnerable and Promoting Growth, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cummins, M., Dublin, Y., Engilbertsdottir, S., Evans, M., Martins, D., Murthy, S. and Yablonski, J. (2013) Subsidy Reforms and Impact on the Middle Class, New York: UNICEF.Google Scholar
Eurostat (2017) Europe 2020 Indicators: Poverty and Social Exclusion, Luxembourg: Eurostat.Google Scholar
Fedelino, A., Schwartz, G. and Verhoeven, M. (2006) Aid Scaling up: Do Wage Bill Ceilings Stand in the Way?, IMF Working Paper No. 06/106, Washington, D.C: IMF.Google Scholar
Ghosh, J. (2013) Economic Crisis and Women’s Work, New York: UNWOMEN.Google Scholar
Hall, D. (1999) ‘Privatisation, multinationals, and corruption’, Development in Practice, 9, 5, 539-556.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, D. (2010). Why We Need Public Spending, London: University of Greenwich.Google Scholar
Heltberg, R., Hossain, N., Reva, A. and Turk, C. (2012) Anatomy of Coping: Evidence from People Living through the Crises of 2008-11, Policy Research Working Paper No. 5957, Washington, D.C.: World Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hossain, N. and Green, D. (2011) Living on a Spike: How is the 2011 Food Price Crisis Affecting Poor People?, London: Institute of Development Studies and Oxfam GB.Google Scholar
Howell, D. (2005) Fighting Unemployment: Why Labor Market ‘Reforms’ are not the Answer , CEPA Working Papers, New York: The New School.Google Scholar
International Labour Office (ILO) (2012) World of Work Report 2012: Better Jobs for a Better Economy, Geneva: ILO.Google Scholar
International Labour Office (ILO) (2014) World Social Protection Report 2014-15, Geneva: ILO.Google Scholar
International Labour Office (ILO) (2015) World Employment and Social Outlook, Geneva: ILO.Google Scholar
International Labour Office (ILO) (2017) World Social Protection Report 2017-19, Geneva: ILO.Google Scholar
International Labour Office (ILO) (2019) World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2019, Geneva: ILO.Google Scholar
International Monetary Fund (IMF) (2010a) Exiting from Crisis Intervention Policies, Washington, D.C.: IMF.Google Scholar
International Monetary Fund (IMF) (2010b) Strategies for Fiscal Consolidation in the Post-Crisis World, Washington, D.C.: IMF.Google Scholar
International Monetary Fund (IMF) (2015) World Economic Outlook April 2015 Database, Washington, D.C.: IMF.Google Scholar
International Monetary Fund (IMF) (2019) World Economic Outlook April 2019: Growth Slowdown, Precarious Recovery, Washington, D.C.: IMF.Google Scholar
Jaumotte, F. and Osorio Buitron, C. (2015) Inequality and Labor Market Institutions, IMF Staff Discussion Note No. SDN/15/14, Washington D.C.: IMF.Google Scholar
Karanikolos, M., Mladovsky, P., Cylus, J., Thomson, S., Basu, S., Stuckler, D., Mackenbach, J.P. and McKee, M. (2013) ‘Financial crisis, austerity, and health in Europe’, The Lancet, 381, 9874, 1323–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kentikelenis, A. (2017) ‘Structural adjustment and health: a conceptual framework and evidence on pathways’, Social Science and Medicine, 187, C, 296–305.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kidd, S., Gelders, B. and Bailey-Athias, D. (2017) Exclusion by Design: An Assessment of the Effectiveness of the Proxy Means Test Poverty Targeting Mechanism, Extension of Social Security (ESS) Paper Series, Geneva and London: ILO and Development Pathways.Google Scholar
Marphatia, A., Moussié, R., Ainger, A. and Archer, D. (2007) Confronting the Contradictions: IMF, Wage Bill Caps and the Case for Teachers, London: ActionAid.Google Scholar
Mkandawire, T. (2005) Targeting and Universalism in Poverty Reduction, Social Policy and Development Program Paper No. 23, Geneva: UNRISD.Google Scholar
Mladovsky, P., Drivastava, D., Cylus, J., Karanikolos, M., Evetovits, T., Thomson, S. and McKee, M. (2012) Health Policy Responses to the Financial Crisis in Europe, Copenhagen: WHO.Google Scholar
Molina, N. (2010) Bail-out or Blow-out? IMF Policy Advice and conditions for Low-Income Countries at a Time of Crisis, Brussels: European Network on Debt and Development (EURODAD).Google Scholar
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) (2013) Report on Austerity Measures and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, presented to ECOSOC, Substantive Session of 2013, Geneva, 1–26 July, E/2013/82.Google Scholar
Ortiz, I., Burke, S., Berrada, M. and Cortes, H. (2013) World Protests 2006-2013, New York: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung NY and Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Columbia University.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ortiz, I. and Cummins, M. (2012) A Recovery for All: Rethinking Socio-Economic Policies for Children and Poor Households, New York: UNICEF.Google Scholar
Ortiz, I., Cummins, M., Capaldo, J. and Karunanethy, K. (2015) The Decade of Adjustment: A Review of Austerity Trends 2010-2020 in 187 Countries, Extension of Social Security Working Paper Series, Geneva and New York: ILO, South Centre and Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Columbia University.Google Scholar
Ortiz, I. and Cummins, M. (2017) Fiscal Space for Social Protection and the SDGs: Options to Expand Social Investments in 187 Countries, Extension of Social Security Working Paper Series, Geneva and New York: ILO, UNICEF and UNWOMEN.Google Scholar
Reinsberg, B., Kentikelenis, A., Stubbs, T. and King, L. (2019) ‘The world system and the hollowing out of state capacity: how structural adjustment programs affect bureaucratic quality in developing countries’, American Journal of Sociology, 124, 4, 1222-57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schenk, A. and Oldman, O. (2007) Value Added Tax: A Comparative Approach, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Seguino, S. (2009) The Global Economic Crisis, its Gender Implications and Policy Responses, Paper prepared for Gender Perspectives on the Financial Crisis Panel at the 53rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, New York: United Nations.Google Scholar
Stubbs, T. and Kentikelenis, A. (2018) ‘Targeted social safeguards in the age of universal social protection: the IMF and health systems of low-income countries’, Critical Public Health, 28, 2, 132-39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuckler, D. and Basu, S. (2013) The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills, New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
United Nations (UN) (2009) Report of the Commission of Experts of the President of the United Nations General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, New York: United Nations.Google Scholar
United Nations (UN) (2011a) Report of the Independent Expert on the Question of Human Rights and Extreme Poverty, General Assembly Document No. A/HRC/17/34, New York: United Nations.Google Scholar
United Nations (UN) (2011b) World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision, New York: United Nations.Google Scholar
United Nations (UN) (2012) World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012, New York: United Nations.Google Scholar
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2011) On the Brink: Fiscal Austerity Threatens a Global Recession, Policy Brief No. 24, Geneva: UNCTAD.Google Scholar
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2016) Trade and Development Report 2016: Structural Transformation for Inclusive and Sustained Growth, Geneva: UNCTAD.Google Scholar
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2017) Trade and Development Report 2017: Beyond Austerity – Towards a Global New Deal, Geneva: UNCTAD.Google Scholar
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) (2007) Fiscal Space for What? Analytical Issues from a Human Development Perspective, Paper for G20 Workshop on Fiscal Policy, New York: UNDP.Google Scholar
United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (2010) Protecting Salaries of Frontline Teachers and Health Workers, Social and Economic Policy Working Brief, New York: UNICEF.Google Scholar
UNWOMEN (2015) Progress of the WORLD’S WOMEN 2015-2016: Transforming Economies, Realizing Rights, New York: UNWOMEN.Google Scholar
Van der Hoeven, R. (2010) Labor Markets Trends, Financial Globalization and the Current Crisis in Developing Countries, UN DESA Working Paper No. 99, New York: United Nations.Google Scholar
Van Waeyenberge, E., Bargawi, H. and McKinley, T. (2010) Standing in the Way of Development? A Critical Survey of the IMF’s Crisis Response in Low-Income Countries, Brussels and Washington D.C.: Boell Foundation, EURODAD and Third World Network.Google Scholar
Weisbrot, M. and Jorgensen, H. (2013) Macroeconomic Policy Advice and the Article IV Consultations: A European Union Case Study, Washington, D.C.: Center for Economic and Policy Research.Google Scholar
Zhang, Y., Thelen, N. and Rao, A. (2010) Social Protection in Fiscal Stimulus Packages: Some Evidence, UNDP/Office of Development Studies Working Paper, New York: UNDP.Google Scholar