Why is austerity always the answer, and who does it really serve?

In this explainer, economist Clara Mattei, executive director of the Forum for Real Economic Emancipation (FREE), breaks down the political logic of austerity, not as a budgeting mistake, but as a tool of systemic control. From slashed food stamps to rising interest rates, from military expansion to mass unemployment, austerity isn’t about scarcity. It’s about power.

Mattei reveals how fiscal, monetary, and industrial austerity function together to keep the majority dependent on markets, wages, and private capital — all while funneling wealth to the top. This isn’t just policy. It’s a global project of exploitation and repression.

🔍 Topics Covered:

• What austerity really means (and why it’s so rarely defined)

• The truth behind budget cuts and rising debt

• How austerity fuels inequality, militarism, and authoritarianism

• Connections between the Global South, interest rates, and structural theft

• Why the wage labor system must be protected — at any cost

• Historical roots: from Mussolini’s Italy to modern neoliberalism

📌 Subscribe for more conversations on economic justice, democracy, and building a future beyond austerity. Find out more: ⁠ https://freefreeforum.org/

✨ Stay tuned. Stay questioning. Stay FREE.

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