Roubini: Europe Could Face Major Crash, Advanced Economies Likely To Slip Into Recession

[clinton4life2011]

It looks like the only thing holding back the U.S. economy at this point is Europe. If these guys got their act together, we'd be on our way to major growth.

http://www.breakingeconomics.com/2011/10/roubini-europe-could-face-major-crash.html

[Warpy]

1. Well, that's rubbish

because the demand side of the equation in the US has been starved nearly to death over the past 40 years. There is not going to be a meaningful recovery until that is remedied, along with evening out wealth and income inequalities.

I'm afraid Roubini has missed the point this time. You can't starve populations into national prosperity.

[jwirr]

8. Agreed. As one of the totally broke people in the USA I wonder if

people in Europe are also as broke as we are? Is their problem based on lack of consumer activity like ours is?

[Warpy]

9. The unemployment is as bad in some places, not so in others

Don't forget, they have a dole when they're unemployed, along with government guaranteed health insurance and childcare benefits that allow parents to look for work. They're way ahead of us. We're really broke, no healthcare, no childcare and only an inadequate, short term unemployment dole. Their system works. Ours is sheer brutality toward workers, employed or not.

Their problem is largely at the top, governments that are lackadaisical about collecting taxes from the rich and consequently in debt. If the austerity fools get their way, people in Europe will become as broke as we are as their social safety net gets shredded, too. Then businessmen there will wonder they way they do here about where all their customers went.

They will predictably blame their poor for being poor the way they do here.

[jwirr]

10. Thank you.

[villager]

2. "Likely to slip?"

:shrug:

[leftstreet]

3. 'if these guys got their act together.' And what do you suggest?

:popcorn:

[Prometheus Bound]

7. That's the problem. I'm sure they'd love to have an obvious solution to their problems.

But there is none.

[Speck Tater]

4. "Major growth" means more CO2 and faster global warming, and faster resource depletion...

More growth will just make things worse and worse in the long run. The whole idea that prosperity requires constant growth needs to be reexamined. We need a stable no-growth economy.

[ixion]

5. how about we get our act together?

because it's not right now.

[Kaleko]

6. Your comment:

"It looks like the only thing holding back the U.S. economy at this point is Europe. If these guys got their act together, we'd be on our way to major growth."

shows that you are absolutely clueless, sorry to say.