VR Symposium on Austerity
Tuesday, September 17, 2024, 14:00 – 16:00. The house opens 13:30.
VR Conference Room on the 9th Floor of the Hús verslunarinnar, Kringlan 7
Speakers: Clara Mattei, Professor of Economics, and Ásgeir Brynjar Torfason, Editor of Vísbending.
Registration for the event is at the bottom of this page.
This year marks a century since austerity was systematically introduced in Iceland for the first time. On this occasion, VR is hosting a symposium on the origin, nature, and impact of this controversial policy. Keynote speaker is Clara Mattei, Professor of Economics and incoming Director of the Center for Heterodox Economics at The University of Tulsa Oklahoma which will be inaugurated in January 2025. Mattei has written extensively on the origins and development of austerity since the end of World War I. Ásgeir Brynjar Torfason, Editor of Vísbending, will give a talk on austerity in the Icelandic context, followed by a panel discussion to explore its impact on Icelandic society and the labor market. The symposium will be chaired by Halla Gunnarsdóttir, Vice Chair of VR.
Austerity was a common response to the 2007 – 2008 financial crisis and has long been one of the conditions set by international institutions for providing loans to states in trouble, as was the case with Iceland during the financial crisis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Monetary Fund signaled a willingness to acknowledge that austerity had generally not delivered the promised results and had not been effective in balancing public finances, reducing public debt, or stimulating economic growth. Nevertheless, austerity remains a prevailing government policy to address inflation and economic challenges.
Clara Mattei has discussed three manifestations of austerity. Firstly, austerity appears as brutal cuts in government spending, privatization, and neglect of infrastructure investment. Secondly, austerity is reflected in high-interest-rate policies as a response to inflation. Thirdly, austerity manifests in wage cuts and the undermining of organized labor. Austerity thus generally places the burden of prevailing problems on workers and the public through real wage reductions, increased interest burden, and cuts in social services, while capital is preserved and inequality grows.
The symposium will explore these aspects, both in a global and a local context, and seek to present alternative approaches to addressing economic and fiscal issues.
The program of the symposium is as follows:
- 13:30 – 14:00 The house opens
- 14:00 – 14:10 Opening: Halla Gunnarsdóttir, Symposium Chair and Vice Chair of VR
- 14:10 – 14:50 Keynote speaker, Clara Mattei, Professor of Economics
The Capital order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism - 14:50 – 15:00 Q&A
- 15:00 – 15:20 Ásgeir Brynjar Torfason, Editor of Vísbending
Icelandic story of austerity and its “successes” - 15:20 – 15:50 Panel Discussion:
- Ásgeir Brynjar Torfason, Editor of Vísbending
- Sigríður Ingibjörg Ingadóttir, Economist at BSRB
- Stefán Ólafsson, Professor Emeritus and Specialist at Efling
- Steinunn Bragadóttir, Economist at ASÍ
- Sveinn Máni Jóhannesson, Historian
Mattei's presentation will be in English and will be simultaneously interpreted into Icelandic. Other presentations and panel discussions will be conducted in Icelandic and translated into English. Please note: If you need translation into English, please bring a smart phone / tablet and headphones.
The symposium is held as an in-person event only, but a recording of Mattei's presentation will be published on VR's website after the event.
Registration for the symposium below.