The Economy: Why We're Stuck

[Free Thinker]

who would do this?

U.S. Politics: There are those who so badly want to hammer the incumbent president that they're willing to throw the economy under the bus to do so. A potentially interesting wrinkle from Europe is, what if the electorate turns on the austerians?


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jared-bernstein/economy-stuck_b_1499347.html

 

[Spike Trader]

Dumb-ass luke with his '' Im STILL voting ABO ''

 

[Brass]

Quote from Spiker:

Dumb-ass luke with his '' Im STILL voting ABO ''

Indeed. Here's a gaggle of Lucrums now:

 

[Max E.]

EARTH TO MEDIA: IT'S NOT AUSTERITY WHEN GOV'T SPENDING KEEPS RISING

The media insists on describing recent election results in Europe as a blow to "austerity," when in fact Europe's recent policies are anything but. Government spending has continued to rise across much of Europe, and even those countries that have made small cuts have not reduced government spending to pre-recession levels. Some Keynesians might believe that these policies are draconian relative to the massive spending that should have happened during a recession, but that is shifting the austerity goalposts.

Veronique de Rugy at National Review Online points to the graph above, and also points out that "whenever cuts took place, they were always overwhelmed by large counterproductive tax increases." Higher taxes on the "rich" have led to uniform misery in Europe--and to political extremism among disenchanted voters.That is the real failure of European policy, and the lesson most relevant to Americans as we head to the polls to choose between an incumbent who wants to raise taxes and one who wants to reform them.

One thing the American presidential election is not about is a choice between austerity and spending. Both candidates propose to increase spending, though the President Barack Obama's budget implies economic disaster and the collapse of government programs in the long run. But when Gov. Mitt Romney agrees that Congress should continue subsidizing the interest on student loans, and other fiscal extravagances, the idea that this is a referendum on "austerity" is rather laughable.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journa...sterity-When-Government-Spending-Keeps-Rising

 

[AAAintheBeltway]

So we should use France and Greece as role models?

That's the whole point of getting a handle on spending now, before we face that level of problem.

Realistically, there is no satisfacotry option for europe. Austerity will hurt growth, without which you can never pay off the debts. But refusing to recognize the need for fiscal discipline merely continues the course that got them in this problem. Voters aren't going to support cuts in their handouts to pay off international bankers. Actually, they're not going to support cuts for any reason. Their mentality is identical to the unions. They want MORE. Screw the consequences.


Add in the factor that German taxpayers are already livid over bailouts. The only real solution is a dissolution of the eurozone and sovereign bankruptcies. Greece has already defaulted. They just called it something else to save face.

 

[Free Thinker]

Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

So we should use France and Greece as role models?

That's the whole point of getting a handle on spending now, before we face that level of problem.

Realistically, there is no satisfacotry option for europe. Austerity will hurt growth, without which you can never pay off the debts. But refusing to recognize the need for fiscal discipline merely continues the course that got them in this problem. Voters aren't going to support cuts in their handouts to pay off international bankers. Actually, they're not going to support cuts for any reason. Their mentality is identical to the unions. They want MORE. Screw the consequences.


Add in the factor that German taxpayers are already livid over bailouts. The only real solution is a dissolution of the eurozone and sovereign bankruptcies. Greece has already defaulted. They just called it something else to save face.

the article points out another problem for people with thinking like yours.
if you enforce extreme austerity without it touching the rich and it is seen by the average person as unfair you risk the voters electing a real leftist agenda in the following election. the rich are powerful but they still only have one vote.

 

[Covertibility]

Quote from Max E. Pad:

EARTH TO MEDIA: IT'S NOT AUSTERITY WHEN GOV'T SPENDING KEEPS RISING

The media insists on describing recent election results in Europe as a blow to "austerity," when in fact Europe's recent policies are anything but. Government spending has continued to rise across much of Europe, and even those countries that have made small cuts have not reduced government spending to pre-recession levels. Some Keynesians might believe that these policies are draconian relative to the massive spending that should have happened during a recession, but that is shifting the austerity goalposts.

Veronique de Rugy at National Review Online points to the graph above, and also points out that "whenever cuts took place, they were always overwhelmed by large counterproductive tax increases." Higher taxes on the "rich" have led to uniform misery in Europe--and to political extremism among disenchanted voters.That is the real failure of European policy, and the lesson most relevant to Americans as we head to the polls to choose between an incumbent who wants to raise taxes and one who wants to reform them.

One thing the American presidential election is not about is a choice between austerity and spending. Both candidates propose to increase spending, though the President Barack Obama's budget implies economic disaster and the collapse of government programs in the long run. But when Gov. Mitt Romney agrees that Congress should continue subsidizing the interest on student loans, and other fiscal extravagances, the idea that this is a referendum on "austerity" is rather laughable.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journa...sterity-When-Government-Spending-Keeps-Rising

Yes, there is austerity

 

[Lucrum]

Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

So we should use France and Greece as role models?

That's the whole point of getting a handle on spending now, before we face that level of problem.

Realistically, there is no satisfacotry option for europe. Austerity will hurt growth, without which you can never pay off the debts. But refusing to recognize the need for fiscal discipline merely continues the course that got them in this problem. Voters aren't going to support cuts in their handouts to pay off international bankers. Actually, they're not going to support cuts for any reason. Their mentality is identical to the unions. They want MORE. Screw the consequences.


Add in the factor that German taxpayers are already livid over bailouts. The only real solution is a dissolution of the eurozone and sovereign bankruptcies. Greece has already defaulted. They just called it something else to save face.

+ 16 Trillion and counting...