I’m tired of hearing about this “austerity measures” crap!! Who came up with this muddled, pansy term?? Probably some mealy-mouth like Alan Greenspan. It’s called staying within your means, not spending more than you take in. An old-fashioned virtue that has always worked and leads to prosperity. “if costs are right, profits will follow” Andrew Carnegie said. Industry and frugality lead to success in every instance. Only liberals would be against thrift, because that limits profits and promotes indolence.
I second your idea: we should stop using the word ‘austerity’ and start using ‘thrift’ or ‘living within our means’
Note however that ‘austerity’ is anything but a pansy-ass term. It was deliberately chosen to indicate grinding hardship - but what we really need is a term redolent of responsibility.