Fear and fearmongering
For an economic policy that inspires hope

Excerpts from the book by Markus Marterbauer and Martin Schürz with an artistic intervention by Michael Heindl

Neoliberal economic policy views fear as a mobilising factor. It stokes fears of poverty in old age, social decline and a paternalistic state. But is that what we need in the face of the recent pandemic, the current wars and the looming climate collapse? Markus Marterbauer and Martin Schürz outline an economic policy that specifically counteracts justified fears, empowers the fearful, inspires hope and creates freedom. In a society where a few billion people own everything, there should be no poverty, and politics should not be conducted through fearmongering. Their book Angst und Angstmacherei (Fear and Fearmongering), published in 2022 (Zsolnay), is a fact-based plea for high minimum standards in a better welfare state, wages that allow people to live well, and a limit on wealth.

In many cities in the USA, beggars are a common sight on the streets. The neoliberal narrative is that those who are poor have only themselves to blame. In his series God Helps Winners Only, Michael Heindl presents cardboard signs left behind by beggars, which he found himself in Chicago and New York.

The labelled boxes formed the basis for anagrams, with the artist recombining their letters. The messages generated in this way were based on slogans familiar from representatives of capitalist and neoliberal economic logic. They are shown together with photographs of the originals, thus creating an image of two extreme realities that are mutually dependent and can therefore only be understood together.

Markus Marterbauer, a trained economist and long-time university lecturer, was chief economist of the Vienna Chamber of Labour from 2011 to 2025 and vice-president of the Fiscal Council from 2006 to 2025. He has been Austrian Minister of Finance (SPÖ) since 3 March 2025.

Martin Schürz is a psychotherapist and lecturer at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. He has been researching wealth distribution in Europe for more than two decades. In 2015, he received the European Parliament's Progressive Economy Award.

Michael Heindl is a visual artist and filmmaker. In his work, he explores the contradictions and paradoxes of human behaviour in the face of a present that is experienced as crisis-ridden.

The opening on 16 September 2025 (6 p.m.) featured a conversation between political scientist Christian Reder and Markus Marterbauer. (Press release)