The relationship between neoliberalism and austerity is varied and contingent. There have been numerous examples of neoliberal expansion without fiscal conservatism. Nevertheless in times of economic crisis neoliberals generally advocate fiscal conservatism and austerity, and this session examines the various neoliberal cases for why this is necessary, drawing on Hayek’s reading of austerity as a necessary example of Schumpeter’s creative destruction, monetarist examples of monetary targets, and ordo-liberal interpretations of sound money. These are then subject to a critique – both of austerity and of neoliberalism.