A No vote in Ireland’s referendum on the Fiscal Treaty might contribute to the demise of the current mindset of austerity

Polling in the lead up to Ireland’s vote on the Fiscal Stability Treaty has pointed to the endorsement of the Treaty. But will the Treaty be a positive force for Ireland, and for Europe? Simon Wren-Lewis argues that the Treaty is ultimately flawed as it treats the current crisis as stemming from massive public sector debts, whilst ignoring that these debts come from governments’ bailouts of banks that were under threat due to unsustainable borrowing from the private sector.