The IMF boss claimed yesterday that her organisation believed that austerity and growth “can be reconciled and should not be mutually exclusive” (see analysis in blog). She lied just like the IMF has been lying regularly since the crisis began. She also claimed that the IMF forecasts have been trending down. The fact is that they keep revising them down because they are continually wrong. They want to dress their austerity bullying up in a favourable light by claiming growth will be higher. The reality is always different and growth, quite predictably, comes in lower. Their poster child – Ireland – was the first nation to succumb to the austerity narrative. The latest national accounts from Ireland released last week continue to provide a bleak outlook on what is happening there. Austerity is killing the economy – slowly but surely. Joseph Stiglitz said that fiscal austerity is tantamount to economic suicide. Ireland is leading the way. Despite massive austerity, Ireland is still going backwards and people are becoming poorer. Claims that Ireland’s austerity approach provides a model for other nations to follow because it produces growth cannot be sustained from the data. Further, as I will show in another blog – the poor economic performance is making it impossible for Ireland to achieve the ridiculous fiscal benchmarks that the Troika have imposed on it. It is folly all round. Pity the workers and the common folk.