'Austerity increases income inequality' (c) IMF

The fanatically pro market Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises famously stated that 'inequality of wealth is the cause of the masses' well being, not the cause of anybody's distress.' Once the province of right wing cranks, such thinking has become today's neo liberal orthodoxy. The December 2013 issue of the IMF's quarterly magazine "Finance & Development" has an article summarizing recent reports produced by the Fund's research department showing that austerity ("fiscal consolidation") and capital account liberalization policies increase income inequality:
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2013/12/furceri.htm

Troika’s junta style policies asset stripping & crippling Greek economy

The IMF-EU troika is accelerating Greece's €20bn privatisation programme by forcing the government to cede state owned assets to a Luxembourg-based holding company that would take care of their sale to private buyers:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/29/us-eurozone-greece-privatisation-idUSBRE97S0EJ20130829
   ETUC economist Ronald Janssen analyses a study which finds the troika's scenario of economic recovery in Greece to be over-optimistic and predicts that unemployment could reach close to 35 per cent in 2016 under the current trajectory:
http://www.social-europe.eu/2013/08/greece-can-it-get-even-worse/

Austerity degrades industrial capacity and social well-being

Ann Pettifor considers the importance of the IMF’s surprising repudiation of austerity and regards it as a vindication of those who have argued for alternative policies (aka Plan B).‘In a recession the only means to improve the public finances is for the government to invest and create work for both firms (think of the construction sector) and the unemployed. Public investment in sound projects will generate income - wages, salaries and profits. Newly employed workers will spend their income and this will further boost activity and revive the private sector. Confidence will return across the economy; taxes paid on incomes will increase the government's revenues and lower unemployment will mean lower government spending on benefits’ http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ann-pettifor/imf-austerity-_b_2004700.html

Greek society on the point of collapse?

The Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras, who highlighted the rise of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party. Has said that Greece is teetering on the edge of collapse with its society at risk of disintegrating unless the the State is shored up with urgent financial aid, the country's prime minister has warned:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/05/greek-prime-minister-society-disintegrate.

ETUC condemns 'Troika' austerity madness

The ETUC has slammed the harm that the forced EU-ECB-IMF 'Troika' austerity programme is causing to Portugese workers and citizens and that has "impoverished millions of citizens in Europe and stifled all opportunities for recovery."

IMF Releases A Discussion Paper On Banking and Monetary Reform - A Revolutionary Act!

We’ve been in a state of mild shock since last Saturday. We discovered one of the strongest advocates of monetary reform and full reserve banking in the institution where we would least expect it. The international Monetary Fund (IMF)has released a discussion paper “The Chicago Plan Revisited” that supports the proposals of US economist Irving Fisher – using state of the art economic modelling.

Hannibal Lecter warns that cannibalism is bad for you

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reiterated its warning - first issued at the January Davos summit of neo-liberalism’s political elite - that austerity is holding back economic recovery. The inevitable sting in the tail is that the IMF is not calling for increased public spending – instead calling for ‘temporary tax cuts’ and infrastructure investment (funded by public sector pay cuts!) to boost demand:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9281686/IMF-says-Britain-must-relax-austerity-if-eurozone-crisis-escalates.html

IMF sets sights on a reduced minimum wage in Greece

As Greece and the IMF continue negotiations on a debt deal to avert economic collapse, the Washington Post reports that Chief IMF inspector Poul Thomsen is seeking to capitalise on the crisis by pressing for lower employment costs, notably a slashing of the minimum wage – a sure fire way of worsening the recession in a country where 1 in 5 workers are already wageless: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/markets/greece-imf-expect-crucial-deals-on-debt-swap-and-new-bailout-to-be-completed-soon/2012/02/01/gIQANRlahQ_story.html

The Shock of Debt

Countries all over the world continue to real from the banking crisis of 2008 in Greece the government faced with a total meltdown of its public services and its economy without further loans was forced into agreeing to more austerity measures.

IMF praise for Libya, other despotic regimes

A Reuters column (here) notes that only two weeks ago the IMF's board lauded the Libyan government, currently using mercenary troops to massacre protesters, for its "strong macroeconomic performance" and "ambitious reform agenda" and for "enhancing the role of the private sector", reports ITUC Washington's Peter Bakvis.

Even at the IMF....

Even at the IMF the penny is beginning to drop. Decreasing workers bargaining power leads to financial crisis and the best way out of crisis is increasing wages. Those are the findings of a working paper put together by two of their economists. Michael Kumhof and Romain Rancière
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2010/wp10268.pdf