A Guide To Common Political Mudslinging Terms That Mean Very Little

The terms 'neoliberalism' and 'populism' are being bandied about faster than you can say 'mudslinging' but what do these words really mean?

After some irritated research, I found out that 'neoliberalism' advocates privatisation of state organisations and is part of most mainstream economic theory rooted in the principle that somehow, money has to come in as well as go out.

Our fearless communist leaders, however, are using it as some kind of insult, one that appears to go over their opponents' heads since they keep insisting on bringing money into the state in the form of revenue, and cutting back on spending. Most people accept that you have to have money to spend it, or at least have the capacity to borrow it so you can spend it.

Credit standing the government does NOT have, so instead, they bandy around meaningless phrases that rarely see the light of day except in political and economic academic treatises.

Government mouthpiece Stefanos Stefanou even went so far as to make a satisfied statement that Standard & Poor's latest downgrade of the government's credit rating was because of the banks' exposure to the Greek market, thereby somehow proving the government's position that Cyprus only needs a bailout due to the banks being overexposed in Greece. Nice thing to be satisfied about, Mr. Stefanou.

It might not be in the government's favour, but let me remind the spokesman of something that S&P's said in its analysis back in August 2011 after it put Cyprus on creditwatch:

"We believe the fiscal position of the Cypriot government is no longer sustainable. Due to the departure of the junior coalition party, DIKO, the Cypriot government is, in our opinion, in a weaker position to pass emergency budgetary measures through parliament," said S&P's.

The ratings agency said it is uncertain whether a new package of austerity measures will be extensive or efficient enough.

"In particular we question whether, without more extensive expenditure cuts including to public sector payrolls, the government can meet next year's ambitious 2.5% of GDP general government deficit target," said S&P's.

All the propagandist methods in the world will not wipe out what is on record - the ratings agencies have been warning about the government's fiscal position since early 2011.

And now, to the word 'populism' - which is used by all sides to lambast any measure that hints of saving money, reducing spending and conserving resources. What it actually means is a political ideology in which "the people" are against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes.

As a commentator tired of seeing irrelevant mudslinging and inaccurately used terms bandied around during a time of extreme financial and economic pressure, I urge all parties to focus on the important priority of getting the economy jumpstarted and ensuring new cash flow into the market as soon as possible. Getting the state and financial system into shape is now the priority, not meaningless political mumbo jumbo.

Message from CyprusNewsReport.com.  We can't do it without YOU. Please support our independence.

To make and read comments, become a full member of your news community, click here.