Austerity, is it really? How about not increasing spending at the same pace as other countries. Many countries could be come debt free by simply keeping spending increases under the rate of inflation.

Krugman was having a hissy in 2014 about Germany for similar things, yet it worked for the Swiss. They have a cap! So staying under three percent paid off for the Germans and this upsets those who subscribe to the idea that government spending is never bad, well if you never plan to pay it off in your lifetime you can borrow against the future quite easily.