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What does austerity mean?

Definitions for austerity
ɔˈstɛr ɪ tiaus·ter·i·ty

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word austerity.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. austerity, asceticism, nonindulgencenoun

    the trait of great self-denial (especially refraining from worldly pleasures)

Wiktionary

  1. austeritynoun

    Severity of manners or life; extreme rigor or strictness; harsh discipline.

  2. austeritynoun

    Freedom from adornment; plainness; severe simplicity.

  3. austeritynoun

    A policy of deficit-cutting, lower spending, and a reduction in the amount of benefits and public services provided.

  4. austeritynoun

    Sourness and harshness to the taste.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Austeritynoun

    Etymology: from austere.

    Now, Marcus Cato, our new consul’s spy,
    What is your sower austerity sent t’ explore? Ben Jonson, Catil.

    What was that snaky-headed Gorgon shield
    That wise Minerva wore, unconquer’d virgin,
    Wherewith she freez’d her foes to congeal’d stone,
    But rigid looks of chaste austerity,
    And noble grace, that dash’d brute violence
    With sudden adoration and blank awe? John Milton.

    This prince kept the government, and yet lived in this convent with all the rigour and austerity of a capuchin. Joseph Addison, Italy.

    Let not austerity breed servile fear;
    No wanton sound offend her virgin ear. Wentworth Dillon.

Wikipedia

  1. Austerity

    Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spending, raising taxes while cutting spending, and lower taxes and lower government spending. Austerity measures are often used by governments that find it difficult to borrow or meet their existing obligations to pay back loans. The measures are meant to reduce the budget deficit by bringing government revenues closer to expenditures. Proponents of these measures state that this reduces the amount of borrowing required and may also demonstrate a government's fiscal discipline to creditors and credit rating agencies and make borrowing easier and cheaper as a result. In most macroeconomic models, austerity policies which reduce government spending lead to increased unemployment in the short term. These reductions in employment usually occur directly in the public sector and indirectly in the private sector. Where austerity policies are enacted using tax increases, these can reduce consumption by cutting household disposable income. Reduced government spending can reduce GDP growth in the short term as government expenditure is itself a component of GDP. In the longer term, reduced government spending can reduce GDP growth if, for example, cuts to education spending leave a country's workforce less able to do high-skilled jobs or if cuts to infrastructure investment impose greater costs on business than they saved through lower taxes. In both cases, if reduced government spending leads to reduced GDP growth, austerity may lead to a higher debt-to-GDP ratio than the alternative of the government running a higher budget deficit. In the aftermath of the Great Recession, austerity measures in many European countries were followed by rising unemployment and slower GDP growth. The result was increased debt-to-GDP ratios despite reductions in budget deficits.Theoretically in some cases, particularly when the output gap is low, austerity can have the opposite effect and stimulate economic growth. For example, when an economy is operating at or near capacity, higher short-term deficit spending (stimulus) can cause interest rates to rise, resulting in a reduction in private investment, which in turn reduces economic growth. Where there is excess capacity, the stimulus can result in an increase in employment and output. Alberto Alesina, Carlo Favero, and Francesco Giavazzi argue that austerity can be expansionary in situations where government reduction in spending is offset by greater increases in aggregate demand (private consumption, private investment, and exports).

ChatGPT

  1. austerity

    Austerity is a set of economic policies, usually involving the reduction of government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. These measures are taken to reduce public sector debt and promote financial stability. Austerity measures are often associated with economic hardship, including reductions in public services, and are usually implemented in times of economic crisis or recession.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Austeritynoun

    sourness and harshness to the taste

  2. Austeritynoun

    severity of manners or life; extreme rigor or strictness; harsh discipline

  3. Austeritynoun

    plainness; freedom from adornment; severe simplicity

  4. Etymology: [F. austrit, L. austerias, fr. austerus. See Austere.]

Wikidata

  1. Austerity

    In economics, austerity describes policies used by governments to reduce budget deficits during adverse economic conditions. These policies can include spending cuts, tax increases, or a mixture of the two. Austerity policies may be attempts to demonstrate governments' liquidity to their creditors and credit rating agencies by bringing fiscal income closer to expenditure. In macroeconomics, reducing government spending generally increases unemployment. This increases safety net spending and reduces tax revenues, to some extent. Government spending contributes to gross domestic product, so the debt-to-GDP ratio which signifies liquidity may not immediately improve. Short-term deficit spending particularly contributes to GDP growth when consumers and businesses are unwilling or unable to spend. Under the controversial theory of expansionary fiscal contraction, a major reduction in government spending can change future expectations about taxes and government spending, encouraging private consumption and resulting in overall economic expansion. Initial austerity results in Europe have been as predicted by macroeconomics, with unemployment rising to record levels and debt to GDP ratios rising, despite reductions in budget deficits relative to GDP. Eurostat reported that Euro area unemployment reached record levels in March 2013 at 12.1%, up from up from 11.0% in March 2012 and 10.3% in March 2011; and that the debt to GDP ratio for the 17 Euro area countries together was 70.1% in 2008, 80.0% in 2009, 85.4% in 2010, 87.3% in 2011 and 90.6% in 2012. Further, real GDP in the EA17 declined for six straight quarters from Q4 2011 to Q1 2013. The U.S. Congressional Budget Office estimated in August 2012 that if the U.S. implemented moderate austerity measures, the unemployment rate would rise by over 1% and economic growth would be significantly reduced in 2013. The U.S. partially avoided the "fiscal cliff" through the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. U.S. unemployment has fallen steadily from a peak of 10% in early 2010 to 7.6% by March 2013.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of austerity in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of austerity in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of austerity in a Sentence

  1. Zsolt Papp:

    It's turned out better than initial expectations. They managed to reduce the budget deficit without imposing austerity and hiking taxes across the board, growth, current account, by the measures that investors look at, Hungary is doing okay, compared to where it was before, compared to neighbours and the wider emerging markets universe.

  2. Ulrich Wilken:

    The main reason for the protest is that the ECB is in the troika and the troika is responsible for the austerity policies that have pushed so many into poverty.

  3. Monica Malik:

    The important thing to remember is that austerity will be a multi-year process. There will be more measures in the next few years and these will continue to keep growth subdued.

  4. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi:

    It seems to me that the climate is changing in Europe, and we have to keep working on this. For too long Europe has been perceived only as a place of austerity, a place without hope, without growth.

  5. Joe Brusuelas:

    This is not the time to tighten the belt. The economy is in no condition for austerity.

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