Are these really solutions that channel the workhouses of the Victorian era, of a Dickens novel, in their conditions?
The workhouse was where the poor had to go for help with food, and a bed, and they worked for it...but life was intended to be so harsh that only the truly, profoundly down-and-out would apply. The work was so bad that it would deter anyone who could avoid it from coming and punish those who sought help. Work included breaking stones...
This seems a fitting comparison for bailout programs that impose more loans on bankrupt countries and harsh austerity on the public that is left begging for scraps only to be met with what optimists might call "tough love."
This workhouse metaphor is one that our guest, Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis, has used to describe the EU's solution to a crisis that has dragged on for almost 5 years in some countries, and even longer in others. He joins us to give his take on this latest Spanish "bailout", as well as the upcoming elections in Greece. Source
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