We tried austerity in the European Union. It worked (but only for Germany). The rest never recovered from the 2009 collapse.
Every dollar is like a capillary in your body. Taking money out of circulating is equivalent to blocking the capillary.
When you do austerity it's like getting multiple simultaneous heart attacks. The Austrian economists say just deal with the pain but I have a fairer proposal. Tax cash at 6%, then you can pay off debts. Anyone who wants to save can go to a bank and lend out their money at 0% or above.