From office buildings in Tokyo to the streets of Milan, state bodies are shattering the illusion of cheap efficiency based on dominance and exploitation. Simultaneously, governments in London and local authorities in Valencia are imposing rigorous discipline on themselves, signaling the end of the era of debt.

Correction of Market Gravity. Economic efficiency has ceased to be the paramount value, giving way to a brutal verification of social costs. On Wednesday, February 25, 2026, Japanese regulators entered the offices of Microsoft Japan, questioning the legality of the Azure platform's dominance.

Officials from the Japan Fair Trade Commission are investigating whether the tech giant was locking customers in a „golden cage,” preventing competition. This is not a routine inspection, but a signal to the keiretsu and the banking sector that market position does not protect against state intervention.

An even more drastic picture emerges from the actions of the Milan prosecutor's office, which placed the Italian branch of Deliveroo under judicial control. A business model based on a rate of 3.77 euros per delivery was deemed systemic exploitation.

Investigators revealed that as many as 20,000 couriers worked in conditions degrading to human dignity, defined as caporalato. The cheap food delivery that the middle class has grown accustomed to was subsidized by labor below the poverty line.

Fiscal Restraint. While the state disciplines corporations, it is also pulling the handbrake itself, moving away from populist handouts. In the United Kingdom, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the upcoming appearance in the House of Commons will not bring new taxes, but only a „bare” forecast.

Reeves is deliberately lowering the political temperature by refusing to publish a report on the implementation of fiscal rules by the Office for Budget Responsibility. Keir Starmer's government chooses stabilization over sudden moves, even though the Institute for Fiscal Studies warns of a budget gap of £30 billion.

A similar strategy was adopted by the Spanish city of Valencia, where Mayor María José Catalá boasted of reducing public debt to 72 million euros. The city combined record investments of 201 million euros with iron financial discipline.

23% — increase in public investment in Valencia y/y

Local authorities are proving that after the pandemic, a return to balance is possible without cuts to municipal services. This technocratic approach to finance stands in stark contrast to political pressure to increase spending.

The British student loan system was radically transformed in 2012, leading to a tripling of tuition fees. The current debate over the „debt trap” of Plan 2 is a direct result of those decisions, which shifted the burden of education funding from the state onto the shoulders of graduates.

The Price of Returning to Normalcy. Critics of such rigorous policies point out that „belt-tightening” ignores real social tragedies. In the UK, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Labour Party MPs are raising alarms regarding Plan 2 student loans.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, however, defends freezing the repayment threshold, citing the state's budget constraints. The government rejects calls to lower interest rates, choosing fiscal security at the expense of indebted graduates.

The argument for the necessity of saving loses its strength, however, when looking at the costs of infrastructure neglect. Deutsche Bahn only restored full traffic on the Magdeburg-Berlin line on March 1, 2026, following a signal box fire in Gerwisch.

The six-month paralysis and the need to merge the Biederitz and Möser signal boxes show that savings on system maintenance are illusory. The reconstruction of the burned facility will last until the fourth quarter of 2026, generating further costs and disruptions.

„It is just a forecast, rather than a fiscal event like the budget.” — Rachel Reeves

The state is ceasing to be a passive observer of the market game, stepping into the role of a stern judge and a frugal host. Whether it concerns Microsoft's algorithms, Deliveroo's rates, or the hole in the British budget, the message is the same: the period of carefree borrowing from the future has come to an end.