Wall Street Journal (April 24)
“Europe’s voters have already swept several governments from office, and they seem ready to sweep out more. But what really needs to be swept away is the dominant and debilitating consensus that government spending can conjure prosperity.”
Tags: Europe, Government, Prosperity, Spending, Voters
Washington Post (February 21, 2012)
“A silver lining” of the financial crises is prison reform. “Inflexible sentencing policies…made the United States the world’s leading jailer” and resulted in unsustainable spending. New York is providing an example of a more sustainable alternative. “By reforming its sentencing laws to eliminate or substantially reduce prison terms for nonviolent offenders” and increasing credits for good time served, New York has reduced its prison population by nearly 2%.
Tags: Financial crises, New York, Prison reform, Sentencing, Spending, U.S.
New York Times (November 8)
“Is there reason to fear that Americans will save too assiduously, as the Japanese did…to the point where the economy never goes back to what we consider normal?” The experts are divided. University of Tokyo professor Takatoshi Ito states, “Japan cannot be held up as a positive role model.” M.I.T. Sloan professor Simon Johnson points out, “Japan never experienced high unemployment. Perhaps we should envy and attempt to learn from their experience, rather than disparaging it.” And Morgan Stanley’s Stephen S. Roach asserts “it’s far too late to argue that the U.S. economy hasn’t fallen into a Japanese-like quagmire. Like Japan, we allowed asset bubbles to distort our real economy….”
New York Times (October 11)
The Times applauds economists Christopher Sims and Thomas Sargent, who were awarded the 2011 Nobel in economic sciences. “The prize committee has rewarded two towering intellects—and delivered a challenge to politicians who are driven more by ideology than by serious consideration of the real-world consequences of their actions.” In particular, the Times hopes politicians will recognize “two important approaches: near-term public spending to spur jobs paired with tax increases to pay for the new programs and, eventually, to reduce the deficit.”
New York Times (September 28)
“The world has barely dug out of recession and the global economy is again slowing dangerously. Most leaders seem eager to make things even worse.” China should let its currency rise. The U.S., Germany, Britain and other rich countries should be spending to spur growth. Instead, everyone seems to be doing exactly the wrong thing, which “is what caused the Great Depression.”
“The world has barely dug out of recession and the global economy is again slowing dangerously. Most leaders seem eager to make things even worse.” China should let its currency rise. The U.S., Germany, Britain and other rich countries should be spending to spur growth. Instead, everyone seems to be doing exactly the wrong thing, which “is what caused the Great Depression.”
Tags: Currency, Economy, Great Depression, Growth, Spending
The New York Times (July 30)
Just when “the economy needs more spending,” everyone is focused on the debt limit and spending cuts. “The premature budget tightening of 1937… reignited the Depression,” and increasingly we look posed to make the same mistakes. The Times does not argue for unlimited spending. “Budget cuts are unavoidable — but they are not urgent. With the economy weak and interest rates low, austerity makes no sense.”
New York Times (July 7)
The U.S. risks default unless the debt ceiling is raised by early August. Negotiations leave the Times feeling “profoundly uneasy” because “vast changes are being discussed behind closed doors…and on a very tight deadline.” The vast changes include spending cuts for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, as well as overhauling the tax code.
Tags: Debt ceiling, Medicaid, Medicare, Social security, Spending, Taxes, U.S.
New York Times (April 3)
Adding 216,000 jobs in March, the U.S. economy “marked the 13th straight month of private-sector job gains,” but “growth is still weak.” Gains are tiny compared to what needs to be achieved. And as federal and state governments rush to curtail spending, there is increased chanced that the economy will again head southward. “Government spending, job-creation programs and regulations to ensure that there isn’t another crash would help the economy and lead to more jobs.”
Tags: Economy, Job growth, Spending, U.S.
Washington Post (January 23)
President Obama will give his third State of the Union address on Tuesday. The speech is the right moment “for President Obama to pitch fiscal responsibility.” The Post calls on him to take a “bold” stance by supporting tax increases, cuts in spending and entitlement programs, and a higher retirement age.
Tags: Obama, Retirement, Spending, Taxes
Washington Post (December 19)
Washington needs to get its fiscal house in order during 2011. Lawmakers need “to consider raising tax revenue even in the context of spending cuts.” The Post points out that ignoring the mounting deficit until after the 2012 election should not be an option. “Delay will only make the eventual solution more painful and more costly.”
