Euro-Area Unemployment Climbs to Record (fruits of austerity policy, soon to be joined by US)

[HiPointDem]

The euro-area jobless rate rose to a record in January as austerity measures taken to counter the debt crisis deepened the currency bloc’s recession.

Unemployment in the 17-nation euro area rose to 11.9 percent from a revised 11.8 percent in December, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. That’s the highest since the data series started in 1995. The figure is higher than the 11.8 percent median estimate of 33 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

“The situation is very serious,” said Alexander Krueger, chief economist at Bankhaus Lampe in Dusseldorf. “There’s no support any more from Germany. It’s more or less a sideways movement which I expect to continue. Other economies like Italy, Spain and Portugal are very bad at the moment, so in the end the unemployment rate can only climb.”

The euro-area economy recorded its worst performance in four years in the fourth quarter with a contraction of 0.6 percent. Gross domestic product will decline again in the first three months before returning to growth in the second quarter, according to the median of 21 economists’ estimates in a separate Bloomberg survey. The European Commission forecasts unemployment rates of 12.2 percent and 12.1 percent for this year and next.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-01/euro-area-unemployment-climbs-to-record-on-recession.html

[HiPointDem]

1. An Economic Tragedy That Everyone Saw Coming Is Now Unfolding In Europe...

The European economy has been a trainwreck for a long time, but there have been varying stages of it.

From 2007 through 2010 or so, the European economy basically went through the same trajectory as the US.

There was a violent downturn during the financial crisis, and then an upturn.

But thanks to the European sovereign debt crisis, the upturn was cut short.

2011 and 2012 were devoted to solving the acute issue of European sovereign debt crisis, an issue that for now has largely gone away, via the ECB's promise of backstopping governments, so long as they agreed to austerity measures.

But everyone predicted that this austerity would be devastating for growth, and now we see that playing out in 2013 in a wicked way.

http://www.businessinsider.com/european-economic-disaster-2013-3

[RB TexLa]

2. Yes, it's called sacrifice. You give up a generation or two for the future.

cut spending, raise taxes, erase debt.

The future is not something America collectively cares about. As a country we want, and we, by God want NOW!

[HiPointDem]

3. you're down with austerity, then? because it will make the future better? for who?

[RB TexLa]

4. For many it's hard to understand doing something for someone not named "Me"

For future generations, you know the people we steal money from when we borrow to pay for higher spending and lower taxes.

[JaneyVee]

5. So that's a YES to austerity?

[HiPointDem]

8. baloney. Current policy is immiserating ordinary families and enriching elites, and elites are the

biggest beneficiary of 'low tax' policy. which has not changed significantly.

The government created something like $14 trillion in debt in a few years -- for the banksters.

Austerity = getting ordinary people to repay that, i.e. THEFT.

[RB TexLa]

9. You raise taxes to go with the cuts. Raised significantly across the board.

[HiPointDem]

11. Cutting government spending while raising taxes = AUSTERITY. worse austerity than merely

cutting government spending.

[RB TexLa]

13. It's called sacrifice, something that was considered a value before we began calling ourselves

"Precious Americans"

[HiPointDem]

16. Sacrifice -- for WHAT? To make the rich and powerful even richer and more powerful. SUICIDE,

not 'sacrifice'.

[RB TexLa]

17. Everything would be across the board, higher taxes on everyone, and all spending cut

[HiPointDem]

18. = austerity = immiseration of the majority to the benefit of the rich

i repeat: what are we sacrificing FOR?

[socialist_n_TN]

19. Yep that's about the size of it........

There's enough wealth out there to take care of everybody WITHOUT any stinkin' austerity. But we're going to have to take it from the greedy hands of the ones who have it.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. I'm trying to think of a country that has actually recovered because of austerity

Mostly it's the countries that have repudiated their debt or spent their money on useful things (as opposed to wars and corporate welfare) that have recovered.

We need austerity for the military-industrial complex and the multinationals and the major financial institutions, you know, the ones who caused this mess?

Then and only then can we talk about austerity for ordinary people.

[RB TexLa]

7. You cut and tax across the board

[dipsydoodle]

15. Germany

.

[CJCRANE]

10. We bailed out the banks and they didn't miss a beat.

They carried on like nothing had happened.

Banking should be a utility, not a means for extracting most of a country's wealth.

[MadHound]

20. The thing is, austerity simply doesn't work,

Now or in the future. The only way to get out of debt is to grow the economy, that means spending money on employment programs, putting money in peoples' pockets through work. All that sacrificing a generation or two is going to do is insure that the economy doesn't grow.

[bhikkhu]

12. Yes, you would think we would take it as "lesson learned"

and then not go down that path.

After the economic collapse in 2008, most of the G8 put together pretty aggressive stimulus programs - government spending. Ours was on the light side. For awhile, the Euro nations were growing their economies better than us - then the rounds of austerity began, and they slipped into recession while we still plodded along at a slow but steady clip.

The GOP seems fixed on the idea that the only way to prove themselves right about all the "out of control spending!" BS they keep spewing is to force the country into an actual recession, by whatever means possible. The sad thing is that it might actually work; if they can make the economy bad enough, they are likely to emerge from the rubble (eventually) in a stronger position than if they just let sane government policies prevent another crash.

[99Forever]

14. It is NOT going to "get better."

There will be a social and political upheaval that might indeed be the end game for this nation. The only questions left, are when and how severe.

[ananda]

21. What a sad, bizarre outcome for everyone.

..