Austerity is the pinnacle of FYGM (fuck you, got mine) politics. It is almost always lobbied for and driven by the financial elite, and their reasoning behind it is that if government spends less, it needs less taxes, which means rich people get to keep more of their wealth to themselves. Those poor people over there though? Fuck 'em. If they worked hard like us they would be rich, too!

Of course, this wouldn't be politically correct to say outright. So instead, they disguise it under things like "fiscal responsibility." But underneath the rhetoric you can almost taste the hatred and contempt they feel towards poor people.