what you're calling austerity is a complex mix of cynicism and failed idealism. there were plenty of people that understood this was inevitable. there were some people that sought to profit from it. but there were enough people that thought this could work to declare it a failed experiment. there are still powerful people that are confused by what they're seeing. it's easy to think it's some master plan. but, it's really just a failed ideology. and the root of it is the way the euro was implemented.
the proper comparison is to the united states, under the gold standard, before the federal reserve. it's a little different, but it's the same basic problem. the austerity is coming from the fact that countries like greece have lost sovereignty over their money supply. when faced with default, they have two choices: spend less, or devalue their currency. but they cannot devalue their currency.
in order for greece and germany to use the same money supply, there has to be some redistribution of resources. in north america, this is actually systemic. the rich provinces and states (like alberta, and california) routinely transfer wealth to the poorer ones (like quebec and west virginia). in europe, it's a scandal - in north america, it's the basis of confederation. this needs to happen as a consequence of using a shared currency, despite having drastically unequal economies.
so long as the euro system continues, these transfers can never end. privatization will merely make things worse. vultures and whatnot. but this isn't a diabolical scheme. it's the result of economic incompetence.
now, here's the funny twist, here: europeans have repeatedly rejected further integration. yet, they want to keep using the euro. you won't hear anybody on the street that gets this. if you put it up for referendum, the popular consensus will be to continue the system that's causing the crisis. because they don't understand what's going on, and the demagogues on the ground are merely confusing things.
in the end, there are three solutions:
1) confederation. under such a system, wealth transfers from germany to the periphery would likely be written into the constitution.
2) abolition of the euro.
3) burn everything down and start over.
everything else that's happening is the result of idiocy run amok....
canada is the master race, we've solved everything - the germans could learn a thing from this.
i mean, i like option 3. but option 1 is most likely.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equalization_payments_in_Canada