Lest we forget, the fiscal cliff is still coming–the dismal set of negative economic consequences that come from cutting government spending and raising taxes too fast in the face of a weak economic recovery. While 87% of the general public do not realise that the fiscal cliff is about preventing spending cuts rather than making them, regular readers (and those of you who read the linked pieces) know better. That’s all ground we have covered. However, that there is a particularly interesting implication of belief in the danger of the fiscal cliff that I have yet to discuss, and this I seek to remedy.
Tag: Austerity
It’s a Trap!
In the rush to come up with a plan of spending cuts and tax hikes, both democrats and republicans have missed the essential detail that makes our current economic circumstances different from any we have previously experienced since World War II–it’s a trap. A liquidity trap, that is, and it’s going to make any spending cuts and tax hikes the US government enacts mean serious pain for millions of people.
The Obama Economy
It has become a common sense view that the US economy has performed poorly under Barack Obama. The assorted punditry are all trying to explain how Obama managed to win the election despite this fact. Perhaps they should stop to consider that perhaps this fact is not a fact at all? Well, if no one else is going to do it, it might as well be me.
Misconceptions: “Obama has Vastly Increased the Size of the Government”
It is a commonly held belief that the Obama administration has been spending money all over the place, increasing the size of the government and the number of people it employs. There is a bit of a problem with this, though–it is factually inaccurate. Today I intend to illustrate and prove that this belief is not in line with reality.
Continue reading “Misconceptions: “Obama has Vastly Increased the Size of the Government””
Stimulus vs. Austerity: UK
Today I’d like to take a mental trip back across the pond and examine the current double dip recession in the United Kingdom, investigating the role it plays as a case study in the policy debate between advocates of stimulus (state spending increases) and advocates of austerity (state spending decreases).
Benjamin Studebaker 