The Austerity Crisis (ny times editorial) What Romney Would Inflict on the U.S.

[amborin]

The Austerity Trap


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/opinion/the-austerity-trap.html


In Monday night’s presidential debate, Mitt Romney echoed other Republican politicians, saying that under President Obama’s economic policies, the United States is “heading toward Greece.” Mr. Romney was invoking Greece apparently to make the point that deep and swift budget cuts are needed in the United States to avoid a debt Crisis.

That bizarre comment, sadly, is no surprise in a campaign that has parted ways with the facts. The president’s budget, as scored by the Congressional Budget Office, would stabilize the ratio of federal debt to the economy over 10 years.

What is more disturbing is that the comment displays willful ignorance about the lessons of Greece, and such ignorance can only lead to bad policy decisions at home. The lesson that should be learned from Greece is that its fiscal mess has been made far worse by severe budget cuts.

New data from the European Union, released on Monday.....show that countries that have most ruthlessly cut their budgets — Greece, especially — have seen their overall debt loads increase as a share of the economy.

The data provide objective support for what has been clear .... deep government budget cuts at a time of economic weakness are counterproductive, complicating, if not ruining, the chances for economic growth.

[Angry Dragon]

1. Willard--the Great American Liar and Fraud

He knows how to steal money and that is the extent of his intelligence

[OutNow]

2. Ask Mr. Herbert Hoover

The initial reaction to the 1929 stock market crash and the resultant drop in government revenue was to slash government spending to avoid debt. That didn't work out so well, did it? FDR's New Deal stopped and reversed course but it still took over a decade to recover.

So here we are, almost 100 years later and the Republican Party is still selling the same disastrous policy, and some folks are still buying it.

[Politicalboi]

3. "But Candy"

The numbers do add up.

[Democratopia]

4. Look at what happened in UK

Gordon Brown had the right idea - spend your way out of recession. The Conservatives won the election on the basis of slashing spending, which was ENTIRELY responsible for the double-dip recession. It was obvious to anyone who could add up that the policy would fail, but the Conservatives put ideology above the interest of the nation, just as the Republicans are doing. The debt isn't the number one issue right now. Getting the economy moving and people back to work is - then you can pay back the debt.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

5. Great read...

Romney = Chaos!