You got a better option?

So. It’s been a week since François Hollande become the President Elect of France – congrats on that by the way François – and a week since the Greek electorate failed to elect a new government. Both of these things happened as a result of electorates rejecting their government’s austerity measures. The people of France and Greece are tired of austerity, tired of continuous cuts, and they have sent this message to their politicians the only way they know how.

But is there really any alternative to austerity?

The reason that President Sarkozy and Prime Minister Papademos introduced austerity measures was not because they wanted to, but because they had to. It was not because they found them fun, or because they wanted to see pensions slashed, or because they wanted people to live in poverty. It was because their countries were rapidly running out of money and if they had not instituted these measures they might well have gone bankrupt.

People seem to have forgotten that we are still in the middle of a recession. While some countries such as Germany are doing better, it hasn’t finished yet. And a recession means, in the immortal words of Liam Byrne, “there’s no money left.” Imports are costing more, exports are earning less. This means that in order to save money – in order not to have to sell off the Tower of London or something – belts must be tightened and sacrifices have to be made. That means pensions may have to be frozen and jobs cut. It’s messy and at times it may not seem to be working. But I have yet to be introduced to a system that works any better.

Some people advocate spending our way out of the recession. But considering – as pointed out above – that nobody has any money I don’t know exactly how this would work. To spend money you need to have money and right now the only way for governments to obtain money is by instituting cuts. It’s kind of a never ending loop.

I’m not saying I approve of all cuts or even that I think austerity is a good idea or the only option. I certainly think Greece needs to find a proper balance between austerity and protecting those who are most vulnerable in Greek society and I also think the other nations of Europe could possible let Greece off a bit considering what the Greek government’s austerity measures are doing to that country. But at the same time I can’t see the logic in rejecting austerity completely. I have a horrible feeling that both President Hollande and whoever replaces Papademos are going to enter office to discover that what their predecessors were doing was exactly what was necessary.

If someone can come up with a better way to get everyone out of the recession than I will gladly reject austerity. But till then I think we need to just take a deep breath and live with it.