Buying Time: The Delayed Crisis of Democratic Capitalism

Introduction: Crisis Theory, Then and Now 1. From Legitimation Crisis to Fiscal Crisis A new type of crisis Two surprises for crisis theory The other legitimation crisis and the end of postwar peace The long turn: from postwar capitalism to neoliberalism Buying time 2. Neoliberal Reform: From Tax State to Debt State Financial crisis: a failure of democracy? Capitalism and democracy in the neoliberal revolution Excursus: capitalism and democracy Starving the beast! The crisis of the tax state From tax state to debt state Debt state and distribution The politics of the debt state Debt politics as international financial diplomacy 3. The Politics of the Consolidation State: Neoliberalism in Europe Integration and liberalization The European Union as a liberalization machine Institutional change: from Keynes to Hayek The consolidation state as a European multilevel regime Fiscal consolidation as a remodeling of the state Growth: back to the future Excursus on regional growth programmes On the strategic capacity of the European consolidation state Resistance within the international consolidation state 4. Looking Ahead What now? Capitalism or democracy The euro as a frivolous experiment Democracy in Euroland? In praise of devaluation For a European Bretton Woods Gaining time Bibliography Index