Lisbon, 23 Feb – After the great crisis of 2008 which brought the economies of the Western world to the brink of collapse, we were told that the only possible answer, inevitable and necessary, was to take the path of public spending cuts and sacrifices, in one word austerity.
Every nation has seen cuts to public services, salary reductions, freezing of pension increases and wild privatization of state-owned companies or assets.
The damage of austerity
Portugal was not saved from this fate, one of the countries most affected by the profound economic crisis, that in 2011 was forced to resort to the Bailout program of the International Monetary Fund, that is, finding itself unable to finance its public debt, Portugal obtained from the Troika (that is, the European Commission and the European Central Bank in addition to the aforementioned IMF) and loan of 78 billions of euros, in exchange for a discounta drastic reduction in public spending and a significant cut in wages and pensions.
In the space of just two years, the government led by Pedro Passos Coelho at the head of a strongly pro-European coalition made up of social democrats and popular people, he cut funding for education, health and social services of almost the 20%. Obviously the lack of investment and trust, combined with the deterioration of living conditions it has further worsened the situation. Unemployment has reached peaks of 17,5%, the poverty rate has grown dramatically and the number of insolvent businesses forced to close has increased at the rate of 40% per year. Read More