Breathe
By Marilú Acosta
Austere is of Latin origin: austērus, meaning harsh or difficult; and comes from the Greek αὐστηρός (austērós): rough or dry. The Real Academia de la Lengua defines it as (1) Severe, rigorously adjusted to the norms of morality. (2) Sober, morigerate, without excess. (3) Sour, astringent and harsh to the taste. (4) Withdrawn, mortified and penitent. Wikipedia says that economic austerity has been used since the economic crisis of 2008, before it was called cutbacks, seeking to generate confidence in the payment of acquired debts. Paul Krugman (USA, 1953), winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2008, emphasizes that the economy of a country cannot be managed like that of a household, since reducing expenses and/or increasing taxes backfires because the recession worsens, the gross domestic product (GDP) decreases, unemployment is generated and the quality of life crumbles, this is known as the paradox of austerity.
