How AUSTERITY POLITICS Launched A One-Sided CLASS WAR On World's Poor: Clara Mattei

Summary

In an interview with Clara Mattei, author of *The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism*, Mattei discusses the economic roots of fascism, highlighting how austerity measures, such as wage cuts, privatization, and reduced public spending, were central to Mussolini's regime. Mattei argues that austerity helped suppress workers' movements and solidify authoritarian power. She contrasts these policies with democratic alternatives that emerged post-WWI, such as workers' councils and cooperatives, which challenged capitalist structures but were ultimately undermined by authoritarian regimes.

Takeaways

• 📚 The book 'The Capital Order' by Clara Matte explores the historical connection between austerity measures and the rise of fascism.
• 💡 Austerity policies, including budget cuts, privatization, wage suppression, and interest rate hikes, have been implemented globally with severe consequences.
• 🔍 Mussolini's Italy is highlighted as an early example of a fascist regime that applied harsh austerity measures, contrary to the popular myth of state control and corporatism.
• 🤔 The script challenges the common understanding of fascism as purely state-driven, suggesting austerity was a precursor to the state interventions of the 1930s.
• 🌐 The discussion points out the international liberal establishment's initial support for Mussolini's policies, indicating a parallel between liberal democracies and authoritarian states.
• 🏛 The book argues that austerity policies are not neutral economic measures but are politically charged choices that suppress democratic participation and alternatives to capitalism.
• 🛑 Austerity's role is to maintain the status quo of capitalism by keeping the working class in check and accepting their exploited conditions.
• 🤝 The conversation emphasizes the need for the left to differentiate between worker ownership and state ownership, which can also be exploitative.
• 🌱 The script mentions alternative economic systems that emerged post-World War I, such as workers' councils, guild socialism, and cooperative movements, which aimed for democratic control over production and distribution.
• 🌟 The book 'The Capital Order' received recognition from Martin Wolf of the Financial Times, who noted the difficulty in imagining alternatives to capitalism that avoid dictatorship.
• 🌍 The discussion calls for a reevaluation of historical narratives and the recognition of existing alternatives to capitalism, which are often overlooked due to dominant ideologies.

Q & A

What is the main argument of Clara Matte's book 'The Capital Order'?

Clara Matte's book argues that austerity measures, such as cuts to wages, fiscal spending, and public benefits, have paved the way to Fascism and have had devastating effects worldwide.

How does Clara Matte define the economic underpinnings of Fascism?

Matte defines the economic underpinnings of Fascism as a combination of corporatism and state power, where austerity policies are used to suppress alternative economic systems and force the majority to accept conditions of exploitation.

What policies did Mussolini implement that Matte identifies as austerity?

Mussolini implemented policies such as budget cuts, privatization, cuts in wages, and interest rate hikes, which Matte sees as austerity measures that suppressed any alternative economic system.

How does Matte's view of Fascism differ from the popular myth?

Matte challenges the popular myth that Fascism is associated with laissez-faire market policies, instead arguing that Mussolini's Fascism involved harsh austerity policies that favored the elite at the expense of the working class.

What is Matte's perspective on the role of state intervention in the economy during Mussolini's regime?

Matte suggests that state intervention during Mussolini's regime was not in opposition to austerity but was a continuation of it, aimed at supporting the investing elite and subjugating the working classes.

What alternative economic systems were emerging in Italy and elsewhere during the early 20th century, according to Matte?

Matte discusses alternatives such as workers' councils, guild socialism, and cooperative movements that aimed to organize production and distribution democratically, giving workers more agency in decision-making.

How does Matte challenge the dominant narrative about the impossibility of alternatives to capitalism?

Matte criticizes the dominant narrative that posits capitalism as the end of history and the best of all possible worlds, arguing that this restricts our imagination for alternatives and dismisses the potential of democratic, worker-led systems.

What is the significance of the 'red viennium' mentioned by Matte in the context of Fascism and austerity?

The 'red viennium' refers to the period of 1918-1919, which saw significant demands for economic democracy and class struggles. Matte suggests that the success of austerity in pacifying the population allowed for the entrenchment of the Fascist regime.

How does Matte view the relationship between economic policies and democratic participation?

Matte argues that austerity policies are not neutral but are political choices that preclude democratic participation in economic management and foreclose alternatives to capitalism.

What is Matte's stance on the idea of state ownership of businesses as an alternative to private ownership?

Matte advocates for worker ownership as an alternative to both state and private ownership, suggesting that corporatized state ownership can be as coercive and exploitative as private ownership.

What role does Matte believe the international liberal establishment played in the acceptance of Mussolini's policies?

Matte claims that the international liberal establishment applauded Mussolini's austerity policies, which helped to solidify the Fascist regime and suppress alternative economic systems.