Op-Ed Columnist - Myths of Austerity - NYTimes.com
Op-Ed Columnist - Myths of Austerity - NYTimes.com
I'm fascinated by the tonic of balanced budgets for the US. It seems folks are oblivious to the fact that we did this before and it worked out terribly. The Great Depression in the mid 30s was starting to recover. FDR tried to balance the budget and cut spending. What happened? Another dip and the recession during the Great Depression.
In other words, no austerity measures for the US till we get out of this mess. With the end of the 1st Stimulus, there is already going to be a traumatic and huge shrinking of GDP when the states and municipalities begin their cuts in spending and start raising fees and taxes. Funny how watching this slow motion repeat of the past is so disheartening.
I'm fascinated by the tonic of balanced budgets for the US. It seems folks are oblivious to the fact that we did this before and it worked out terribly. The Great Depression in the mid 30s was starting to recover. FDR tried to balance the budget and cut spending. What happened? Another dip and the recession during the Great Depression.
In other words, no austerity measures for the US till we get out of this mess. With the end of the 1st Stimulus, there is already going to be a traumatic and huge shrinking of GDP when the states and municipalities begin their cuts in spending and start raising fees and taxes. Funny how watching this slow motion repeat of the past is so disheartening.
posted by Spud at 12:16 PM
0 comments
