Europe's Revolt Against Austerity

With the election of Francois Hollande to the French presidency and the Greek parliamentary elections that saw the election of the Radical Coalition of the Left (Syriza) become the second most represented party in Parliament the media has begun to trumpet the same message: the end of austerity. From Paul Krugman to the BBC, economists, policy makers, and analysts are all sounding out the end of the "Merkozy" austerity policies imposed on Greece, Spain, and other EU nations by France and Germany. But what will this actually achieve? For one, with the failure of the centre-right and pro-austerity New Democracy party not able to form a coalition in Greece it still remains to be seen if Syriza can form its own coalition government to combat austerity. But in France, Hollande's presidency does not necessarily mean much will change as the National Assembly is still dominated by the UMP (with elections coming up in June) and the Socialist Party not exactly being a party of anything other than Third Wayist Blairite neoliberalism (see DSK as head of the IMF, some socialist he is). So far all that Hollande is proposing is increasing taxes, lowering the retirement age, and enacting some social policies, but little is mentioned about the austerity agreements with Germany.

So while leftists may have an urge to celebrate the victories, they may want to wait before reality kicks in.