Austerity

How to Avoid the Austerity Trap But Still Deal With the Budget Deficit

Robert Reich | Posted 05.29.2012

Robert Reich

Here is a way for us to avoid the austerity trap that Europe has fallen into. And we get on with the long-term job of taming the budget deficit when the economy is healthy enough to do so.

As Goes Greece

Robert Kuttner | Posted 05.29.2012

Robert Kuttner

Historians will look back on the spring of 2012 as moment when Europe's institutions and leaders either failed to contain a deepening crisis -- or as a time when leadership grasped the common stakes and rose to the occasion.

Romney Messes Up, Tells the Truth About Austerity

William K. Black | Posted 05.25.2012

William K. Black

Mitt Romney has periodic breakdowns when asked questions about the economy because he sometimes forgets the need to lie, as happened recently in an interview with Time magazine.

Letter From a 'Nouveau Pauvre'

Elizabeth Boleman-Herring | Posted 05.24.2012

Elizabeth Boleman-Herring

Until very recently, I was one of the unemployed-no-longer-looking-for-work, but I have changed that status. I apply for positions here and there: positions that might earn me a little gas money, but certainly not pay my health insurance.

Austerity Isn't Working

Matt Browne | Posted 05.22.2012

Matt Browne

Austerity Isn't Working's goal is to illustrate the human cost of austerity, compile the growing economic evidence that austerity isn't working, and promote fresh ideas designed to shape a fiscally responsible, pro-European, pro-growth response to the crisis.

At G8 Summit, Obama Emphasizes Growth Over Austerity

AP | BEN FELLER and JIM KUHNHENN | Posted 05.20.2012

CAMP DAVID, Md. -- Confronting an economic crisis that threatens them all, President Barack Obama and leaders of other world powers on Saturday declar...

Europe's Economic Woes Overshadow G8 Summit

Reuters | Posted 05.19.2012

By Jeff Mason and Laura MacInnis CAMP DAVID, Md., May 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama pledged at a Group of Eight summit on...

Jon Ward

Romney Embraces Growth, Leaving Austerity To Europe

HuffingtonPost.com | Jon Ward | Posted 05.19.2012

WASHINGTON -– Austerity is out. Growth is in. And Mitt Romney's campaign has taken notice. Politicians in Europe and in President Barack Obama's...

Friday Talking Points -- Good Enough for My Money

Chris Weigant | Posted 05.18.2012

Chris Weigant

It was a somewhat eclectic week in politics. The House -- in one of their rare moments when they actually meet and attempt to get something done -- passed a bunch of bills which have exactly zero chance of becoming law. Well, at least they had fun, right?

The Austerity Trap and the Jobs Deficit

Robert L. Borosage | Posted 05.17.2012

Robert L. Borosage

Before dealing with the "prairie fire" that threatens the nation, Romney and Republicans want to add fuel to the flames. Their first priority is spending more money on the military and collecting less money from the rich and the corporations.

Austerity Offers Europe Their Only Hope

Michael Pento | Posted 05.17.2012

Michael Pento

Blaming a recession on the idea that an insolvent government was finally forced into reducing its debt is like blaming a morning hangover on the fact that you eventually had to stop drinking the night before.

A Primer on the Eurozone Crisis and How It Could Affect Us

Robert J. Shapiro | Posted 05.16.2012

Robert J. Shapiro

Only by leaving can Greece reissue the drachma and let it devalue sharply. Everything Greek will be available at fire sale prices, which will attract foreign investors and make Greek exports price competitive. Greece and its people will be left a lot poorer, but that's also now inevitable.

Ryan Grim

'Off With Their Heads': U.S. Politicians Eye Europe Warily

HuffingtonPost.com | Ryan Grim | Posted 05.16.2012

Ned Simons reported from London, Alexandre Phalippou from Paris, and Ryan Grim from Washington. When Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke ventured...

For Whom the Austerity Bell Tolls

Jared Bernstein | Posted 05.15.2012

Jared Bernstein

Next time someone asks you for whom the austerity bell tolls, tell them it ain't just the EU.

Eurozone's Economy 'Not Likely To Recover Any Time Soon'

Reuters | Posted 05.15.2012

* Euro zone GDP stable at 0.0 pct change in Q1 from Q4 2011 * Germany surprises with 0.5 percent growth in Q1 * French g...

Why We Have a Deficit

Dave Johnson | Posted 05.14.2012

Dave Johnson

Just ten years ago this country was running huge surpluses and paying off its debt. But then we elected Obama and all hell broke loose. Oh, wait...

Euro Ministers Plead With Greece To Stick With Austerity Program

AP | RAF CASERT | Posted 05.14.2012

BRUSSELS — Leading European Union finance officials promised to stand by Greece as a member of the eurozone provided it sticks to its bailout te...

Aging Citizens Contribute to National Growth

Michael Hodin | Posted 05.14.2012

Michael Hodin

From Athens, Greece, to Madison, Wisconsin, the common theme today is said to be "austerity versus growth."

How Will the French and Greek Elections Change the Direction of Europe?

Gemma Godfrey | Posted 05.14.2012

Gemma Godfrey

As French and Greek voters make their feeling about spending cuts loud and clear, we ask ourselves: why has there been such a strong swing to anti-austerity/pro-growth, how does this threaten the survival of the euro and is a Greek default still possible?

Show Peter Peterson We Reject His Elite Austerity Consensus

Roger Hickey | Posted 05.13.2012

Roger Hickey

This meeting will not issue a rallying cry for bold growth policies to put America to work. And we should try to make sure that Democrats do not buy into what the organizers are selling -- because the voters certainly won't.

Fiscal Futility

Robert Kuttner | Posted 05.13.2012

Robert Kuttner

Austerity is a false cure for a prolonged recession. The Peterson Foundation is using a genuine crisis as an excuse to bash social insurance, at a time when we should be expanding social insurance. It's appalling that so many people are gulled by this propaganda.

Merkel, Austerity Policies Dealt Blow

Reuters | Posted 05.13.2012

* Projections show worst post-war result in state for CDU * Result could harden opposition to Berlin's austerity policies ...

Will Democrats Embrace American Austerity? Crash This Party and See

Richard (RJ) Eskow | Posted 05.11.2012

Richard (RJ) Eskow

Maybe your invitation to billionaire Pete Peterson's "Fiscal Summit" got lost in the mail. Or maybe they really, really didn't want you there.

Poverty and Unemployment: The Unfinished Business of the Obama Administration

David Coates | Posted 05.11.2012

David Coates

Back in the 1930s, it took FDR two goes to get his New Deal up and running. It is time for the Obama Administration to take heart from that, and have a second go itself.

The Great Populist Wave

Brent Budowsky | Posted 05.10.2012

Brent Budowsky

At this moment, in our land, it is time for the true champions of the 99 percent to launch the largest voter registration, mobilization and turnout campaign in the history of freedom.