People Are Finally Figuring Out: Austerity is Stupid
- Thread starter Banjo
- Start date
It was world class infrastructure but it is now rapidly decaying. And if you add in the intellectual infrastructure -- schools, job training etc. -- it is already quite broken. No society can survive without political leadership that is willing to make a hard decision or two on finance. If we do not get a grip very soon our ability to finance this mess will turn and once that happens it very quickly gets to be too late.
It's a hard job now but an impossible job in five years or less!
It's a hard job now but an impossible job in five years or less!
Oldtime, take hart, no need to be grumpy, this is just the material world. I got this note from a friend that might give you some encouragement...
"The Baltic nations of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia provide good examples of successful fiscal adjustments. In the last few years, and contrary to the rest of Europe, the Baltic countries have focused on significantly cutting government spending without equivalent increases in taxes. As a result, the Cato Institute's Dan Mitchell reports, between 2008 and 2011, Estonia and Lithuania reduced nominal spending by 5 percent, and Latvia by 11 percent. France and the United Kingdom increased spending more than 8 percent over the same period, and Spain and Italy increased spending by 3 percent. In contrast to these others, the Baltic states have experienced some of the largest economic gains in the world: Between 2009 and 2010, Estonia's economy rose from an annual GDP growth of minus-13 percent to 3.1 percent.
Sweden is another good example. The data show that after the recession, Sweden's finance minister, Anders Borg, not only successfully implemented reduction in welfare spending but also pursued economic stimulus through a permanent reduction in the country's taxes, including a 20-point reduction to the top marginal income tax rate. As a result, the country's economy is now the fastest-growing in Europe, with real GDP growth of 5.6 percent. Unsurprisingly, the Financial Times recently declared Borg the most effective finance minister in Europe.
While the debate over austerity continues, the evidence seems to point to the conclusion that austerity can be successful, if it isn't modeled after the "balanced approach." It's a lesson for the French and other European countries, as well as for American lawmakers who often seem tempted by the lure of closing budget gaps with higher taxes."
Source:Veronique de Rugy is a senior research fellow of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
"The Baltic nations of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia provide good examples of successful fiscal adjustments. In the last few years, and contrary to the rest of Europe, the Baltic countries have focused on significantly cutting government spending without equivalent increases in taxes. As a result, the Cato Institute's Dan Mitchell reports, between 2008 and 2011, Estonia and Lithuania reduced nominal spending by 5 percent, and Latvia by 11 percent. France and the United Kingdom increased spending more than 8 percent over the same period, and Spain and Italy increased spending by 3 percent. In contrast to these others, the Baltic states have experienced some of the largest economic gains in the world: Between 2009 and 2010, Estonia's economy rose from an annual GDP growth of minus-13 percent to 3.1 percent.
Sweden is another good example. The data show that after the recession, Sweden's finance minister, Anders Borg, not only successfully implemented reduction in welfare spending but also pursued economic stimulus through a permanent reduction in the country's taxes, including a 20-point reduction to the top marginal income tax rate. As a result, the country's economy is now the fastest-growing in Europe, with real GDP growth of 5.6 percent. Unsurprisingly, the Financial Times recently declared Borg the most effective finance minister in Europe.
While the debate over austerity continues, the evidence seems to point to the conclusion that austerity can be successful, if it isn't modeled after the "balanced approach." It's a lesson for the French and other European countries, as well as for American lawmakers who often seem tempted by the lure of closing budget gaps with higher taxes."
Source:Veronique de Rugy is a senior research fellow of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
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Traveler-Trend;
Where are you coming from;
socialism /Greece??LOL[A funny comment, more so than a serious question]
