Austerity is often presented as unavoidable: spending must be reduced, public services must do more with less and ordinary people must accept a lower standard of living.
But these are political choices, not natural laws.
The project begins by asking why governments claim there is not enough money for people, housing, public services or the environment while enormous sums remain available to support private wealth, financial institutions and ambitious commercial projects.
To understand austerity, we must examine the ideas behind it, the people who promoted them and the historical events that allowed those ideas to gain power.
