Most austerity program fail because there is no true austerity. Outside of Greece which has had to make real cuts simply because it hasn&#x27;t the money the vast majority of countries which claimed some form of austerity never actually cut spending, some kept increasing it.<p>In the US it is all a shell game where the deceit of baseline budgeting allows Congress and the President to claim cuts when spending increases. The US could balance its budget in a manner of years if budgeting were honest and they actually reduce spending increases below inflation.