Take your blood pressure meds before reading this one: Austerity measures have never worked and will not save the economy, self-styled economic expert Medhat Nafe’ writes for Al Shorouk, arguing that the austerity measures often prescribed by the “economic elite” only work to further the crisis for the general public who have to face high inflation rates, higher taxes, lower public spending, and reduced purchasing power. Meanwhile, the advocates of austerity measures are given tax breaks and other incentives that allow them the luxury of rallying behind policies advocating frugality. “They forget that their target growth rates are tied to consumption that are bound to go down under such conditions,” Nafe’ says. Advocates of austerity, he adds, know that they could bail Egypt out of its current predicament with a one-off tax on their fortunes.