Financial Anorexia of Development: The Economic Famine of the 21st Century

In a world where satiety is measured by digits in bank accounts, a new economic disorder has emerged — financial anorexia of development. This pathological desire to save on everything related to long-term growth in the name of illusory financial well-being. Just as a person with anorexia sees non-existent fullness in the mirror, states and corporations suffering from financial anorexia observe imaginary economic stability in their balance sheets while their infrastructural "body" is literally dying of hunger.

This is not just a metaphor — it's a diagnosis of modern economic policy. When bridges collapse, schools fall apart, and hospitals operate on equipment from the last century, we are not seeing "financial discipline," but a pathological fear of investment that turns saving into an end in itself rather than a means to achieve prosperity.

From Economic Frugality to Financial Exhaustion: The Historical Path to Anorexia

This disease did not emerge overnight. Its seeds were sown in the neoliberal era of the 1980s, when the dogmas of "small government" and "budget discipline" became sacred scriptures of economic religion. Thatcher and Reagan, like economic evangelists, preached the idea that government spending is evil and the market will solve all problems, like the invisible hand of an economic deity.

For a long time, we lived in this paradigm, where infrastructure investments were viewed as unnecessary luxury, not as a necessary condition for long-term prosperity. Pride in a "disciplined budget" overshadowed the obvious fact: we are consuming our future, enjoying an ephemeral sense of financial control.

The 2008 financial crisis was not a sobering call, but rather a catalyst for this disease. In panic, we rushed to "tighten our belts," not realizing that we were saving on vital organs of our economy. Budget asceticism became a fashionable diet for national economies, and the result was not recovery, but chronic exhaustion.

Symptoms of the Disease: Government Austerity as a Form of Self-Harm

Watching politicians reporting on "budget discipline," one involuntarily recalls a teenager with anorexia proudly refusing dinner. "We've reduced the national debt!" they boast, keeping silent about the fact that the infrastructure debt has grown exponentially.

The symptoms of this disease are visible everywhere. There's the constant postponement of critically important infrastructure projects "to the next budget period," chronic underfunding of education under the pretext of "optimizing expenses," and minimalism in healthcare that revealed its catastrophic nature during the pandemic.

Particularly telling are cases when governments pride themselves on budget surpluses against the backdrop of crumbling roads and outdated power grids. It's like bragging about money saved for a rainy day when the roof of your house is collapsing and pipes are bursting. What's the point of savings if basic needs are not met?

Another vivid symptom is "cosmetic repair" instead of capital renovation. Governments prefer to patch holes in infrastructure rather than invest in its complete renewal. They literally paint rotting bridge railings instead of strengthening its foundation. It's an illusion of action masking inaction.

Corporate Anorexia: Short-Term Profit Instead of Long-Term Development

The disease is not limited to the public sector. The corporate world has also fallen victim to it. Companies today are obsessed with quarterly indicators to such an extent that they are ready to literally "eat" their future for the sake of momentary success.

Research and development, staff training, equipment modernization — all of this is sacrificed on the altar of short-term profit. Shareholders demand immediate returns, and managers, whose bonuses are tied to current performance, readily fulfill these demands, even if it means the slow suicide of the company.

There is something deeply ironic-tragic in how companies cut innovation budgets, and then wonder why they are overtaken by hungrier and less anorexic competitors. This corporate myopia has reached such a scale that even industry giants, once famous for their far-sighted approach, today think in terms of the next quarter, not the next decade.

It's telling that many companies pride themselves on their "cost optimization," when in fact it's about chronic underinvestment in human capital and infrastructure. They are like a farmer saving on seeds and fertilizers, and then surprised by the meager harvest.

Infrastructure Debt: The Invisible Price of Saving

We have learned to measure government debt to the last cent, but remain remarkably blind to infrastructure debt — the price that will have to be paid for years of underinvestment. This debt is not reflected in official reports, but it is no less real and much more dangerous.

Every postponed road repair, every skipped power grid upgrade, every untimely water supply modernization — none of this disappears without a trace. On the contrary, the cost of solving these problems grows exponentially. What can be fixed today for a million will require ten tomorrow, and a hundred the day after tomorrow.

The scariest thing is that infrastructure debt has a property of suddenly "exploding," turning from a hidden problem into a catastrophe. Bridge collapse, dam failure, energy system collapse — these are not accidents, but logical outcomes of long-term underfunding.

There is something perversely ironic about governments refusing to invest in infrastructure under the pretext of saving, ultimately spending multiples more on disaster response. It's like refusing a preventive doctor's visit only to go bankrupt treating an advanced disease.

And the saddest thing is that we pass this infrastructure debt onto the shoulders of future generations. We are literally stealing from our own children, leaving them a legacy of collapsing bridges, outdated schools, and worn-out networks instead of money "saved" on their construction and renewal.

Social Dystrophy: Consequences of Financial Anorexia for Society

But the most frightening consequences of financial anorexia are social. When the state saves on education, medicine, public transport, it is ordinary people who suffer first. Not abstract statistical units, but specific children who didn't receive quality education, patients who didn't get timely treatment, workers losing hours in traffic jams.

Saving on social programs looks especially cynical against the backdrop of growing inequality. It turns out that there is money in the economy — it's just concentrated in the hands of an increasingly narrow circle of people, while the state, supposedly without funds for basic services, continues to lower taxes for the wealthiest.

Financial anorexia creates a two-speed society: a privileged minority capable of acquiring quality services in the private market, and a majority forced to make do with degrading public services. This is not just an economic problem — it's a moral failure undermining the very foundations of the social contract.

Another aspect is the long-term consequences of underinvestment in human capital. By saving on education and healthcare today, we get a less productive, less healthy, less competitive workforce tomorrow. This is pure economic masochism — shooting yourself in the foot and calling it financial discipline.

Therapy Instead of Self-Flagellation: Ways Out of Economic Anorexia

As with clinical anorexia, the first step to recovery is recognizing the problem. We must stop admiring savings for savings' sake and start evaluating government and corporate decisions through the prism of their long-term impact on society and the economy.

It's necessary to rethink the very concept of "investments" and "expenses." Building a school, hospital, road is not a useless waste of funds, but an investment in future prosperity. Moreover, it's an investment with proven high returns. Every dollar invested in quality infrastructure comes back manifold through increased productivity, improved quality of life, creation of new opportunities.

A fundamental change in reporting systems is also required. Infrastructure debt should be accounted for on par with financial debt. Politicians and company leaders should be held responsible not only for immediate indicators but also for the condition in which they leave basic assets to their successors.

And finally, we need to relearn how to think long-term, to go beyond quarterly reports and electoral cycles. Great civilizations of the past created infrastructure that served for centuries. We, possessing immeasurably greater resources and technological capabilities, are somehow unable to plan beyond the next fiscal year.

DeflationCoin: A Deflationary Model Without Development Anorexia

Conclusion: From Pathology to Healthy Growth

Financial anorexia of development is not just a metaphor, but a real diagnosis of modern economic policy. Like clinical anorexia, it masquerades as a "healthy choice," but in fact represents a dangerous distortion of reality leading to systemic collapse.

It's time to acknowledge the obvious: we cannot save our way to prosperity. Attempts to do so resemble trying to achieve health through starvation — it's not just ineffective, but deadly dangerous. Investments in infrastructure, human capital, scientific research are not luxuries, but necessary conditions not only for growth but for survival in the modern world.

The time has come to rethink the very paradigm of economic success, abandoning the fetishization of short-term indicators in favor of long-term, sustainable development. Only in this way can we cure ourselves of financial anorexia and build an economy that serves not abstract numbers, but the real needs of people and society.