Monday, June 18, 2012

THE SIMPLE TRUTH ABOUT AUSTERITY

(h/t Atrios)

IT DOESN'T WORK!!!
Ed Balls: Austerity has failed in Europe - we must all now go for growth
18 June 2012
London Evening Standard

There is no easy option for Greece, given its problems. Difficult reforms are vital. But how can an austerity plan — which has seen recession turn into depression, youth unemployment soar to more than 50 per cent, the economy shrink by six per cent in the last year alone and the national debt grow further — be seen as a success? As even the credit rating agencies now recognise, as Standard and Poor’s puts it, that “austerity alone risks becoming self-defeating”.

Atrios also has a nice snark on the morals of economic conservatism:
But remember kids, moral hazard is what happens when a single parent gets $10 more per week in extra food stamp money.

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