Austerity

Paul Krugman And Robert Reich: Sages On The Economy Too Much Ignored!

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We have two brilliant, courageous educators who have promoted the understanding that the only way to get out of the economic downturn we have been in, is to do more stimulus spending, and have proved by what is going on in Europe that austerity is a disastrous policy, but they are too much ignored by many people, who choose to believe the conservative and Republican mantra on the economy, which is to do more of the same economic policies that have failed, those of George W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan before him.

Paul Krugman of Princeton University, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, and columnist for the New York Times, is a brilliant economist, and has called for a budget package that does not destroy the middle class any more than it is already!

So has Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton, and Professor of Political Economy at the University of California, Berkeley, who has advised policies that make sense, but is also ridiculed by those who do not understand our history, and the economic cycle!

To promote austerity is seen as wrong headed, and would lead to a disastrous downturn in the economy, something Great Britain’s government has discovered, and both men advise us NOT to follow the same course!

The future of the middle class and the poor is at stake, and we would be wise to respect and follow the advice and counsel of both Krugman and Reich at this delicate time!

The Economy Issue Outweighing Foreign Policy And The Supreme Court: The Ultimate Tragedy For The Nation

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It has often been said that people vote their “pocketbook”, that is, how they are affected economically, including having employment, the inflation rate, the housing situation, and the ability to plan for their children’s college education and their own retirements.

So if the economy is in bad shape, the President or party in office loses the election, and that possibility now rears its “ugly head”, due to the downturn in the stock market this past month, and the slowing of job growth that hints at a stall, if not a reversal, in job growth.

The facts are that all economic conditions are much better than they were when Barack Obama took the oath of office, but since people tend to think of the moment, not of the previous few years, Barack Obama is seen as in danger of being defeated.

The odds are still that he will win re-election, but it is going to be a “nail biter” at best, and that is a true tragedy, considering Obama’s accomplishments in foreign policy, national security, and constitutional issues.

There is no question that, despite Republican propaganda to the contrary, that Barack Obama has accomplished a lot in these areas, but it is being overshadowed by the economic situation, which, no matter who is President, is going to take years to repair after the Great Recession that began under George W. Bush.

If Mitt Romney is elected President, we are not going to see a magical economic recovery! We are, instead, likely going to see austerity that will make things far worse! One can be assured that within six months of taking the oath, Romney’s honeymoon will have ended, and there will be “buyers’s remorse”!

And we will likely see the “necons” take back control of the White House, and decide on a new war with Iran, which will only further damage the deficit and the national debt!

And we will see up to three appointments by President Romney, turning the Supreme Court to the extreme right for a generation, the greatest tragedy of all, as it will set back gays, Hispanics and Latinos, African Americans, women, labor, the environment, and government regulation of Wall Street!

So the economy may be in bad shape, but the country will be in worst shape if Obama loses because of the economy!

Nobel Prize Winner Paul Krugman And The American “Depression” Solution: An Activist Government!

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Paul Krugman, the winner of the Nobel Economics Prize, columnist for the New York Times, and Professor at Princeton University, has written a new book about how to deal with the American “Depression”, as he calls the Great Recession.

Just suggesting that we are going through a depression is a stunning statement, but Krugman, despite attacks from conservatives, Republicans, and Texas Congressman Ron Paul and his libertarian views, is correct in stating that austerity, being pursued in Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe in a way that has led to a worsening economic condition throughout the continent, is absolutely the wrong thing to do at this time.

The time for cutting spending is when there is a booming economy, not an economy with millions of people unemployed, and attempts being made to cut back the social safety net for desperate people. As Krugman writes, it is John Maynard Keynes, whose ideas helped Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression, who needs to be followed today.

After all, even Richard Nixon said he was a Keynesian when he decided to impose wage and price controls in the 1970s, and it was Keynesian ideas that helped Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan during the two worse economic downturns in the 1970s and 1980s since the end of the Great Depression until those time periods!

So Krugman advocates much more government intervention and spending than Barack Obama was able to get through Congress in 2009, and argues that had more been done then and since, our economic condition would be far better than it is now.

There may be skeptics, and certainly Ron Paul supporters live in their own parallel universe, but Paul Krugman needs to be listened to, and followed, hopefully, by a Democratic controlled Congress in 2013 and after!