Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt

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Overall situation

The last months of the year are traditionally the time when national parliaments vote on the budgets for next year. Like in the years before, in many countries deep cuts in social services and further privatizations are planned. Despite good-sounding news from and for the financial markets, austerity for ordinary people continues. This might not be by accident.

When this newsletter is sent out, Ireland will be the first country that exits a Troika Troika Troika: IMF, European Commission and European Central Bank, which together impose austerity measures through the conditions tied to loans to countries in difficulty.

IMF : https://www.ecb.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html program. Unfortunately, the difference for the people will not be that big, because austerity continues. The same counts for people in other countries like Spain or Portugal, who want to follow Ireland on this path. Any country that believes it can get out of the crisis by austerity, will have austerity forever.

The current situation is characterized by a Troika that still pushes for even more austerity and by governments that are doing window-dressing by claiming to see a positive development for the times ahead, which will never become reality if the current policy is continued. Neither in the Troika nor in the national governments, talks are about what should really be on stage: a significant debt relief in many countries – not only for the public, but also the private sector -, a restoration of public services and significant investment for facing some of the great challenges of our time, such as climate change and energy shortage.

By publishing this newsletter with reports from the countries affected by the Troika, we hope to be part of a growing movement that one day will be able to change this.