This study seeks to critically analyse the series of changes in the political and economic role of the state in Europe since the 1970s, concomitant with the process of integration of the old continent and the rise of the neoliberal regulatory model. Along these lines, special attention will be given to the responses given to the global economic crisis of 2008 onwards, especially the austerity measures imposed by the Troika on the peripheral nations of the European Union. Furthermore, we seek to understand how these political-economic austerity guidelines are reflected in Brazil in the current political, fiscal and economic crisis and contribute to the cutting of social, economic and cultural rights and guarantees, corroborating with marginalisation and social inequality in Brazil. Finally, it should be noted that this book is the result of a bibliographical documentary research, whose main theoretical references are the works "The current crisis of capitalism" and "The capitaliststate and its masks" by José Avelãs Nunes.