Are poverty, unemployment, and inflation built-in features of capitalism?

A recent piece in Jacobin explores Clara Mattei’s argument that austerity isn’t simply flawed economics but a political strategy designed to weaken labour and secure the position of economic elites. Rather than treating spending cuts and ‘fiscal discipline’ as regrettable necessities, the article suggests they function to shift power towards capital, often insulating major economic decisions from democratic influence through central banks and other technocratic bodies. It ultimately poses an uncomfortable question: if austerity is built into the way capitalist systems operate, what would it actually take to move beyond it - and are our existing democratic institutions capable of delivering that shift?
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