A paper claiming that austerity in Greece had caused male suicide rates to rise significantly created something of a stir this week. Some people used it to support their argument that the structural reforms imposed by the "Troika" (IMF IMF, European Commission and ECB) as a condition of Greece's bailout were economically destructive and should be abandoned. Others disputed the findings, claiming that there never was any austerity and the suicides were simply a response to difficult economic conditions.
There is no doubt that six years of deep recession in Greece have taken their toll on the population. The paper shows a statistically significant positive correlation between unemployment and male suicide, and an even more significant negative correlation between economic growth and male suicide. Economic depression, it seems, does cause some men to end it all.
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However, that wasn't what the authors set out to prove. There is already substantial evidence that suicide rates rise in recessions. For example, this paper published in the British Medical Journal shows positive correlation between the 2008 economic recession and higher suicide rates across a wide range of countries.
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