"What are they smoking?"-Robert Reich: The Austerity Death Trap

[kpete]

Robert Reich


Ron Paul's newly-unveiled economic plan -- promising to cut $1 trillion from the federal budget in year one (presumably that means 2013) -- is only slightly more ambitious than what we're hearing from other Republican candidates. They're all calling for major spending cuts starting as soon as possible.


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And if you think 2011 is bad, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Even if you're a deficit hawk this is nuts. Instead of reducing the ratio of debt to the size of the overall economy, this strategy increases the ratio because it causes the economy to shrink.

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While it increases the likelihood of this Republican goal, it doesn't stop there. Because the austerity trap will last for many years, any Republican successor will also be a one-termer.

MORE:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/gop-austerity_b_1020681.html

[peacebird]

1. Perhaps the time of the too big to fail and the IMF should come to an end?

All these austerity plans are to force the people to pay for the greed and screwups of the politicos and their corporate masters. The plans are for austerity to protect the profits of the rich, not for the good of the people

[nineteen50]

2. Yes

Austerity programs are nothing more than the delusional
efforts of a status quo to avoid the consequences of its own
error and fraud while shifting the costs of bailing them out
to the poor, elderly, social security, public employees and
their pension funds

[DJ13]

3. K&R

[phantom power]

4. If the 1%-ers think OWS is annoying now, try another trillion in spending cuts.

[bahrbearian]

5. At least Ron Paul will cut the Military, instead of expanding it.

That alone could easily be 1 Trillion in 5 years