ABSTRACT
Debate on the economic crisis in the European Union (EU) has focused on the financial and banking crisis, contraction of paid employment, rise in unemployment, and huge household and sovereign debt that has been imposed on a number of EU economies (Greece, Spain, Ireland, Cyprus, Portugal, and Italy). The consequences of austerity policies have included increased levels of poverty and deprivation, extremely high levels of youth unemployment, dramatic reductions in public expenditures (on welfare, in particular), shrinking pension entitlements, and barriers to accessing affordable childcare and housing. Bailout programs imposed on EU countries by the European Central Bank (ECB) together with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Commission (EC)—known in Ireland as the troika—have been harshly criticized for turning the enormous private corporate debt of the banking sector into public or “sovereign” debt, resulting in major cutbacks to key public expenditure programs in order to finance impossible levels of debt repayments.
