Preface

Austerity, a Personal History

1. A Primer on Austerity, Debt, and Morality Plays

2. America: Too Big to Fail?

Bankers, Bailouts, and Blaming the State

3. Europe--Too Big to Bail

The Politics of Permanent Austerity

Introduction to Chapters 4, 5, and 6

Austerity's Intellectual and Natural Histories

4. The Intellectual History of a Dangerous Idea, 1692-1942

5. The Intellectual History of a Dangerous Idea, 1942-2012

6. Austerity's Natural History, 1914-2012

during the Belle Epoque, states were neither large enough to pursue any policy other than laissez-faire (specifically, austerity) nor democratic enough for that to pose a problem for austerity. link to gold standard as well: cutting wages/prices to remain on the standard only works if you're not a democracy (otherwise people revolt)

7. The End of Banking, New Tales, and a Taxing Time Ahead

tl;dr tax the rich

Postscript