Severe austerity has been imposed as the fait accompli for the ‘PIIGS’ economies of Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain. Economic policy (and even government leadership) was taken out of the hands of elected politicians, and either abdicated to domestic technocrats or exported to the ECB/IMF/EU troika. Filmed at the Battle of Ideas, this frank discussion remains timely and suggests austerity policies understate the fundamental problems facing both big and small nations of Europe.
