It was not markets but the cross-party consensus on fiscal consolidation that had emerged before the crisis that dictated a decisive and irrevocable turn toward austerity. It was a decision driven by a long-term vision of competitiveness and retrenchment, the lobbying of taxpayer and business advocates and the regional interests of the rich states of western Germany.33 It was a choice that would change the politics not just of Germany but of the eurozone as a whole.
