Greece’s Economy Is a Lesson for Republicans in the U.S.

[bripat9643]

Lol who are these people feeding this propaganda? Is it some secret entity? What exactly are their goals? What do they want accomplished? Be specific.

He won't ever be specific, he can't accept anything that doesn't fit his narrow worldview, despite almost all evidence conclusively showing "trickle down" "reagonomics" is a complete failure, even the INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND agrees that redistributing to the poor boosts economic growth.

I just posted tons of evidence showing it to be a fantastic success. It's hilarious how almost everything you say about me is so profoundly ironic.

LOL. Yeah, stagnant wages, a shrinking middle class, rampant inequality... You're a joke.

Don't let the facts get in your way. Most of what you think you know is imaginary.

I don't care about Obama, we're examining the effects of reagan's policies, and you can't honestly be telling me wages haven't been stagnant while productivity is through the roof?

Yes, I can honestly tell you that during the Reagan administration wages increased. They have been stagnant since Obama ascended to the thrown.

 

[Socialist]

He won't ever be specific, he can't accept anything that doesn't fit his narrow worldview, despite almost all evidence conclusively showing "trickle down" "reagonomics" is a complete failure, even the INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND agrees that redistributing to the poor boosts economic growth.

I just posted tons of evidence showing it to be a fantastic success. It's hilarious how almost everything you say about me is so profoundly ironic.

LOL. Yeah, stagnant wages, a shrinking middle class, rampant inequality... You're a joke.

Don't let the facts get in your way. Most of what you think you know is imaginary.

I don't care about Obama, we're examining the effects of reagan's policies, and you can't honestly be telling me wages haven't been stagnant while productivity is through the roof?

Yes, I can honestly tell you that during the Reagan administration wages increased. They have been stagnant since Obama ascended to the thrown.

Yeah, you're ignoring a period of a couple of decades.. no one will deny that wages increased under reagan, but the disaster of what was set during his time has fucked working families for decades, and the mythology of giving tax breaks to the rich is a funny thing. Stagnant since obama ascended?
For most workers real wages have barely budged for decades Pew Research Center
Idiot.

 

[Socialist]

It's not what you think it is

Greece is a faraway country with an economy roughly the size of greater Miami, so America has very little direct stake in its ongoing disaster. To the extent that Greece matters to us, it’s mainly about geopolitics: By poisoning relations among Europe’s democracies, the Greek crisis risks depriving the United States of crucial allies.

But Greece has nonetheless played an outsized role in U.S. political debate, as a symbol of the terrible things that will supposedly happen — any day now — unless we stop helping the less fortunate and printing money to fight unemployment. And Greece does indeed offer important lessons to the rest of us. But they’re not the lessons you think, and the people most likely to deliver a Greek-style economic disaster here in America are the very people who love to use Greece as a boogeyman.

To understand the real lessons of Greece, you need to be aware of two crucial points.

Paul Krugman[/paste:font]
Macroeconomics, trade, health care, social policy and politics.

• Ending Greece’s BleedingJUL 5
• Europe’s Many Economic DisastersJUL 3
• Greece Over the BrinkJUN 29
• Hooray for ObamacareJUN 25
• Slavery’s Long ShadowJUN 22

See More »

The first is that the “We’re Greece!” crowd has a truly remarkable track record when it comes to economic forecasting: They’ve been wrong about everything, year after year, but refuse to learn from their mistakes. The people now saying that Greece offers an object lesson in the dangers of government debt, and that America is headed down the same road, are the same people who predicted soaring interest rates and runaway inflation in 2010; then, when it didn’t happen, they predicted soaring rates and runaway inflation in 2011; then, well, you get the picture.

The second is that the story you’ve heard about Greece — that it borrowed too much, and its excessive debt led to the current crisis — is seriously incomplete. Greece did indeed run up too much debt (with a lot of help from irresponsible lenders). But its debt, while high, wasn’t that high by historical standards. What turned Greek debt troubles into catastrophe was Greece’s inability, thanks to the euro, to do what countries with large debts usually do: impose fiscal austerity, yes, but offset it with easy money.

Consider Greece’s situation at the end of 2009, when its debt crisis burst into the open. At that point Greek government debt was near 130 percent of gross domestic product, which is definitely a big number. But it’s by no means unprecedented. As it happens, Greece’s debt ratio in 2009 was about the same as America’s in 1946, just after the war. And Britain’s debt ratio in 1946 was twice as high.

Today, however, Greek debt is over 170 percent of G.D.P. and still rising. Is that because Greece just kept on borrowing? Actually, no — Greek debt is up only 6 percent since 2009, although that’s partly because it received some debt relief in 2012. The main point, however, is that the ratio of debt to G.D.P. is up because G.D.P. is down by more than 20 percent. And why is GDP down? Largely because of the austerity measures Greece’s creditors forced it to impose.

Does this mean that austerity is always self-defeating? No, there are cases — for example, Canada in the 1990s — of countries that slashed their debt while maintaining growth and reducing unemployment. But if you look at how they managed this, it involved combining fiscal austerity with easy money: Canada in the ’90s drastically reduced interest rates, encouraging private spending, while allowing its currency to depreciate, encouraging exports.
Greece, unfortunately, no longer had its own currency when it was forced into drastic fiscal retrenchment. The result was an economic implosion that ended up making the debt problem even worse. Greece’s formula for disaster, in other words, didn’t just involve austerity; it involved the toxic combination of austerity with hard money.

So who wants to impose that kind of toxic policy mix on America? The answer is, most of the Republican Party.

On one side, just about everyone in the G.O.P. demands that we reduce government spending, especially aid to lower-income families. (They also, of course, want to reduce taxes on the rich — but that wouldn’t do much to boost demand for U.S. products.)

On the other side, leading Republicans like Representative Paul Ryan incessantly attack the Federal Reserve for its efforts to boost the economy, delivering solemn lectures on the evils of “debasing” the dollar — when the main difference between the effects of austerity in Canada and in Greece was precisely that Canada could “debase” its currency, while Greece couldn’t. Oh, and many Republicans hanker for a return to the gold standard, which would effectively put us into a euro-like straitjacket.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/10/o...-a-lesson-for-republicans-in-the-us.html?_r=0

it sure is...don't be stupid like the Greeks and don't embrace socialism...reduce the size of government and increase individual freedom....works like a charm every timeout is tried...

Oh right let's be more like Somalia. Great plan.

I'd like to see one successful country with a "small government" that worked well. Somalia?

United States.

Circa 1790 to 1913.....Give it a gander sometime.

LOL. Yeah, slavery until the civil war, genocide of native americans, wage slavery rampant, child labor, little to no labor rights, no minimum wage, rampant senior poverty/homelessness, no regulations, a crippled environment in heavily industrialized zones, industrial accidents..

 

[Darkwind]

It's not what you think it is
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/10/o...-a-lesson-for-republicans-in-the-us.html?_r=0

it sure is...don't be stupid like the Greeks and don't embrace socialism...reduce the size of government and increase individual freedom....works like a charm every timeout is tried...

Oh right let's be more like Somalia. Great plan.

I'd like to see one successful country with a "small government" that worked well. Somalia?

United States.

Circa 1790 to 1913.....Give it a gander sometime.

LOL. Yeah, slavery until the civil war, genocide of native americans, wage slavery rampant, child labor, little to no labor rights, no minimum wage, rampant senior poverty/homelessness, no regulations, a crippled environment in heavily industrialized zones, industrial accidents..

I'm not particularly impressed by your diversion from your statement. Smaller government works each time it is tried. In fact, it often creates growth and prosperity in greater and greater cycles than any other system.

Set people free to chase their dreams and desires and they will find ways to make money at it. That is called growth.

Government stifles growth, kills creativity, and strangles dignity.

Have a nice day.

 

[Socialist]

it sure is...don't be stupid like the Greeks and don't embrace socialism...reduce the size of government and increase individual freedom....works like a charm every timeout is tried...

Oh right let's be more like Somalia. Great plan.

I'd like to see one successful country with a "small government" that worked well. Somalia?

United States.

Circa 1790 to 1913.....Give it a gander sometime.

LOL. Yeah, slavery until the civil war, genocide of native americans, wage slavery rampant, child labor, little to no labor rights, no minimum wage, rampant senior poverty/homelessness, no regulations, a crippled environment in heavily industrialized zones, industrial accidents..

I'm not particularly impressed by your diversion from your statement. Smaller government works each time it is tried. In fact, it often creates growth and prosperity in greater and greater cycles than any other system.

Set people free to chase their dreams and desires and they will find ways to make money at it. That is called growth.

Government stifles growth, kills creativity, and strangles dignity.

Have a nice day.

Yeah, you're an idiot. Somalia? Only example I can think of. All industrialized countries have strong governments, many stronger then the U.S., and they do amazingly well, your hysteria and fear of "government" is funny.

 

[Darkwind]

Oh right let's be more like Somalia. Great plan.

I'd like to see one successful country with a "small government" that worked well. Somalia?

United States.

Circa 1790 to 1913.....Give it a gander sometime.

LOL. Yeah, slavery until the civil war, genocide of native americans, wage slavery rampant, child labor, little to no labor rights, no minimum wage, rampant senior poverty/homelessness, no regulations, a crippled environment in heavily industrialized zones, industrial accidents..

I'm not particularly impressed by your diversion from your statement. Smaller government works each time it is tried. In fact, it often creates growth and prosperity in greater and greater cycles than any other system.

Set people free to chase their dreams and desires and they will find ways to make money at it. That is called growth.

Government stifles growth, kills creativity, and strangles dignity.

Have a nice day.

Yeah, you're an idiot. Somalia? Only example I can think of. All industrialized countries have strong governments, many stronger then the U.S., and they do amazingly well, your hysteria and fear of "government" is funny.

How can you tell? It requires some kind of real intelligence to determine of someone is an idiot.

So far, you're nothing more than a semi-talented primate banging away at a keyboard.

I gave you an example. What you don't want is to admit that from the earliest part of our beginning, until the progressives started making policies, this country grew faster than any other country in the history of the world.

All that with freedom from oppressive government....must just twist those tiny little gonads something fierce.

Again..have good day.

 

[Socialist]

I'd like to see one successful country with a "small government" that worked well. Somalia?

United States.

Circa 1790 to 1913.....Give it a gander sometime.

LOL. Yeah, slavery until the civil war, genocide of native americans, wage slavery rampant, child labor, little to no labor rights, no minimum wage, rampant senior poverty/homelessness, no regulations, a crippled environment in heavily industrialized zones, industrial accidents..

I'm not particularly impressed by your diversion from your statement. Smaller government works each time it is tried. In fact, it often creates growth and prosperity in greater and greater cycles than any other system.

Set people free to chase their dreams and desires and they will find ways to make money at it. That is called growth.

Government stifles growth, kills creativity, and strangles dignity.

Have a nice day.

Yeah, you're an idiot. Somalia? Only example I can think of. All industrialized countries have strong governments, many stronger then the U.S., and they do amazingly well, your hysteria and fear of "government" is funny.

How can you tell? It requires some kind of real intelligence to determine of someone is an idiot.

So far, you're nothing more than a semi-talented primate banging away at a keyboard.

I gave you an example. What you don't want is to admit that from the earliest part of our beginning, until the progressives started making policies, this country grew faster than any other country in the history of the world.

All that with freedom from oppressive government....must just twist those tiny little gonads something fierce.

Again..have good day.

Yeah, with rampant poverty, horrid inequality, child labor, laughable wages.. It grew due to slavery for awhile by the way. Progressives are active in all countries and are the reason we have strong wages, child labor laws, regulations, safety nets..

 

[eagle1462010]

Our current POTUS has increased the debt more than all the other Presidents combined...............

Our current Federal Budget is higher than the GDP of any other nation on earth............

Our interest payments on the debt are 400 Billion a year

Our unfunded liabilities in pensions for gov't workers, and SS are massive............

Live within your means.............and don't promise shit you can't pay for.................thus ends the lesson.

 

[Darkwind]

Our current POTUS has increased the debt more than all the other Presidents combined...............

Our current Federal Budget is higher than the GDP of any other nation on earth............

Our interest payments on the debt are 400 Billion a year

Our unfunded liabilities in pensions for gov't workers, and SS are massive............

Live within your means.............and don't promise shit you can't pay for.................thus ends the lesson.

Yep...Something we did for well over 100+ years.

But morons are going to be morons no matter what you say.

They think that issues of poverty and civil rights should all just be fixed in one big fucking sweep of the government hand....Instead of building it through growth and education.....Kind of like what we did all through the 1800's....

It was only when they wanted to fix everything right now! that they screwed it all up.....But what do you expect from low IQ, live in the moment, idiots?

 

[SAYIT]

You know the reality is that current government regulations in this country do very little to hinder job creation.

Now that is the kind of monumentally ignorant statement that gives all socialists a bad name in America. Here's a clue: there are way more hurdles to business expansion (job creation) than just federal regs and taxes ... way.

Go ahead and check the BLS statistics. You'll see regulations have very little to do with it.

BLS stats say nothing about state and local taxes and regs on business. To the extent that they remove money from or restrict biz activities, they are limiting growth and jobs. Gov't regs in Greece (and this thread is about Greece) have had a seriously negative impact on private investment there and thus have been a job and growth killer.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

College classes are government propaganda? You're the same moron who believes the WHO is a marxist organization.

Yes, college classes are government propaganda. That's why the government takes over education, so it can pump young people full of nonsense designed to justify government control.

Lol who are these people feeding this propaganda? Is it some secret entity? What exactly are their goals? What do they want accomplished? Be specific.

He won't ever be specific, he can't accept anything that doesn't fit his narrow worldview, despite almost all evidence conclusively showing "trickle down" "reagonomics" is a complete failure, even the INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND agrees that redistributing to the poor boosts economic growth.

I just posted tons of evidence showing it to be a fantastic success. It's hilarious how almost everything you say about me is so profoundly ironic.

LOL. Yeah, stagnant wages, a shrinking middle class, rampant inequality... You're a joke.

Yeah, stagnant wages, a shrinking middle class, rampant inequality...

But enough about Obama's economy!

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

The real problem in Greece is income inequality. Exactly the same situation that right wingers are trying to create here by the redistribution of the country's wealth to the top 1%. The GOP base is too fucking stupid to understand that if you move the wealth of the nation to the top 1% that creates many more poor that are dependent on government. And the GOP leadership are too greedy to want to stop it.
A terrible combination. A stupid and uneducated and racist base and a greedy and immoral leadership.

The real problem in Greece is income inequality.

Right. It has nothing to do with their government spending 59% of GDP.

Exactly the same situation that right wingers are trying to create here by the redistribution of the country's wealth to the top 1%

The fact that our top 1% paid almost 46% of all Federal income taxes paid last year proves just how idiotic your claim is.

A terrible combination. A stupid and uneducated and racist base and a greedy and immoral leadership.

I agree, but Obama's racist, immoral leadership will be gone in 18 months.

 

[imawhosure]

Anyone who even considers believing this socialist clown, is well, a socialist. All you have to do is look at history to know that his way, is the wrong way.

Here you have the greatest nation the world has ever seen, and socialist tries to convince you that it is bassackwards. How dumb are you?

He is very good at pointing out the weaknesses of what America has given, but have you looked at what Stalin has done? Mao?

As we move LEFT towards his utopia, we lose our strength. Is this what you want America to be? I mean seriously; how long has it been since you have seen Americas economy so weak, or its ability to dictate its own fate so uncertain?

Regardless of if you are left or right, are you going to buy into this crap? Are you actually going to let someone named "SOCIALIST" tell you what is a good idea because Norway does it?

The truth is, the only reason some countries can do this, is because YOUR military stands between them, and the communists.

Here you have the greatest country to grow crops. You have now discovered the ability to get oil. You have the world at your feet; and a guy like SOCIALIST tells you that you are a bunch of know nothings, lol.

If you believe his nonsense, then you are a large part of the problem!

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Lol who are these people feeding this propaganda? Is it some secret entity? What exactly are their goals? What do they want accomplished? Be specific.

He won't ever be specific, he can't accept anything that doesn't fit his narrow worldview, despite almost all evidence conclusively showing "trickle down" "reagonomics" is a complete failure, even the INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND agrees that redistributing to the poor boosts economic growth.

I just posted tons of evidence showing it to be a fantastic success. It's hilarious how almost everything you say about me is so profoundly ironic.

LOL. Yeah, stagnant wages, a shrinking middle class, rampant inequality... You're a joke.

Don't let the facts get in your way. Most of what you think you know is imaginary.

I don't care about Obama, we're examining the effects of reagan's policies, and you can't honestly be telling me wages haven't been stagnant while productivity is through the roof?

we're examining the effects of reagan's policies, and you can't honestly be telling me wages haven't been stagnant

It's true, they've been falling under Obama while they rose under Reagan.

 

[bripat9643]

I just posted tons of evidence showing it to be a fantastic success. It's hilarious how almost everything you say about me is so profoundly ironic.

LOL. Yeah, stagnant wages, a shrinking middle class, rampant inequality... You're a joke.

Don't let the facts get in your way. Most of what you think you know is imaginary.

I don't care about Obama, we're examining the effects of reagan's policies, and you can't honestly be telling me wages haven't been stagnant while productivity is through the roof?

Yes, I can honestly tell you that during the Reagan administration wages increased. They have been stagnant since Obama ascended to the thrown.

Yeah, you're ignoring a period of a couple of decades.. no one will deny that wages increased under reagan, but the disaster of what was set during his time has fucked working families for decades, and the mythology of giving tax breaks to the rich is a funny thing. Stagnant since obama ascended?
For most workers real wages have barely budged for decades Pew Research Center
Idiot.

The "disaster of what was set?" Democrats have been boasting for years about how the economy was so great under Clinton. So what was "set" and when was it due to take effect?

The excuses commies have for inconvenient facts are utterly amazing.

 

[Billy000]

Yes, college classes are government propaganda. That's why the government takes over education, so it can pump young people full of nonsense designed to justify government control.

Lol who are these people feeding this propaganda? Is it some secret entity? What exactly are their goals? What do they want accomplished? Be specific.

He won't ever be specific, he can't accept anything that doesn't fit his narrow worldview, despite almost all evidence conclusively showing "trickle down" "reagonomics" is a complete failure, even the INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND agrees that redistributing to the poor boosts economic growth.

I just posted tons of evidence showing it to be a fantastic success. It's hilarious how almost everything you say about me is so profoundly ironic.

LOL. Yeah, stagnant wages, a shrinking middle class, rampant inequality... You're a joke.

Don't let the facts get in your way. Most of what you think you know is imaginary.

Lol Obama inherited the worst recession since the Great Depression. Obviously it would take more time to recover. We lost 8 million jobs. It wouldn't change the fact that job Growth is the best it has been since 1999. Over 11 million private jobs were gained since he took office.

 

[bripat9643]

Lol who are these people feeding this propaganda? Is it some secret entity? What exactly are their goals? What do they want accomplished? Be specific.

He won't ever be specific, he can't accept anything that doesn't fit his narrow worldview, despite almost all evidence conclusively showing "trickle down" "reagonomics" is a complete failure, even the INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND agrees that redistributing to the poor boosts economic growth.

I just posted tons of evidence showing it to be a fantastic success. It's hilarious how almost everything you say about me is so profoundly ironic.

LOL. Yeah, stagnant wages, a shrinking middle class, rampant inequality... You're a joke.

Don't let the facts get in your way. Most of what you think you know is imaginary.

Lol Obama inherited the worst recession since the Great Depression. Obviously it would take more time to recover. We lost 8 million jobs. It wouldn't change the fact that job Growth is the best it has been since 1999. Over 11 million private jobs were gained since he took office.

The Great Depression was the worst because a couple of liberals, Hoover and FDR, made it the worst. All their policies only aggravated the situation. Obama's depression is the second worst for the same reason: his policies. The unemployment rate reached a higher point under the Reagan administration, but he didn't impose all the idiocies on the economy that Obama did. That's why he had a strong recovery and Obama had the weakest, most anaemic recovery since the Great Depression.

 

[Billy000]

He won't ever be specific, he can't accept anything that doesn't fit his narrow worldview, despite almost all evidence conclusively showing "trickle down" "reagonomics" is a complete failure, even the INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND agrees that redistributing to the poor boosts economic growth.

I just posted tons of evidence showing it to be a fantastic success. It's hilarious how almost everything you say about me is so profoundly ironic.

LOL. Yeah, stagnant wages, a shrinking middle class, rampant inequality... You're a joke.

Don't let the facts get in your way. Most of what you think you know is imaginary.

Lol Obama inherited the worst recession since the Great Depression. Obviously it would take more time to recover. We lost 8 million jobs. It wouldn't change the fact that job Growth is the best it has been since 1999. Over 11 million private jobs were gained since he took office.

The Great Depression was the worst because a couple of liberals, Hoover and FDR, made it the worst. All their policies only aggravated the situation. Obama's depression is the second worst for the same reason: his policies.

The recession started 4 months before he got into office, Einstein. You people are so lame that you can't criticize Bush for anything.

 

[Vigilante]

93 Million Americans Remain Out Of The Labor Force Despite Nearly 400K Work Pool Increase


Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/05/2015 09:30 -0400

The reason why despite the better than expected increase in jobs the US unemployment rate rose from 5.4% to 5.5% even as the number of Unemployed workers rose by 125K to 8,674MM was due to the 397K influx into the civilian labor force which rose to 157.459MM, a new record high in the series, which on the surface would suggest declining slack as more people who have been traditionally left out of the employment calculation go back into the labor pool.

Which aslo meant that since the total US civilian non-institutional population rose by half this number, the number of Americans not in the labor force declined by 208K to just about 93 million.

And, as a result, the biggest malady affecting the US economy today, is still in place: as the chart below shows, the labor force participation rate rose just barely from 62.8% to 62.9%, a range it has been for the past year. Indicatively, the last time the US labor force was here, was in mid-1978.

 

[Misty]

It's not what you think it is

Greece is a faraway country with an economy roughly the size of greater Miami, so America has very little direct stake in its ongoing disaster. To the extent that Greece matters to us, it’s mainly about geopolitics: By poisoning relations among Europe’s democracies, the Greek crisis risks depriving the United States of crucial allies.

But Greece has nonetheless played an outsized role in U.S. political debate, as a symbol of the terrible things that will supposedly happen — any day now — unless we stop helping the less fortunate and printing money to fight unemployment. And Greece does indeed offer important lessons to the rest of us. But they’re not the lessons you think, and the people most likely to deliver a Greek-style economic disaster here in America are the very people who love to use Greece as a boogeyman.

To understand the real lessons of Greece, you need to be aware of two crucial points.

Paul Krugman[/paste:font]
Macroeconomics, trade, health care, social policy and politics.

• Ending Greece’s BleedingJUL 5
• Europe’s Many Economic DisastersJUL 3
• Greece Over the BrinkJUN 29
• Hooray for ObamacareJUN 25
• Slavery’s Long ShadowJUN 22

See More »

The first is that the “We’re Greece!” crowd has a truly remarkable track record when it comes to economic forecasting: They’ve been wrong about everything, year after year, but refuse to learn from their mistakes. The people now saying that Greece offers an object lesson in the dangers of government debt, and that America is headed down the same road, are the same people who predicted soaring interest rates and runaway inflation in 2010; then, when it didn’t happen, they predicted soaring rates and runaway inflation in 2011; then, well, you get the picture.

The second is that the story you’ve heard about Greece — that it borrowed too much, and its excessive debt led to the current crisis — is seriously incomplete. Greece did indeed run up too much debt (with a lot of help from irresponsible lenders). But its debt, while high, wasn’t that high by historical standards. What turned Greek debt troubles into catastrophe was Greece’s inability, thanks to the euro, to do what countries with large debts usually do: impose fiscal austerity, yes, but offset it with easy money.

Consider Greece’s situation at the end of 2009, when its debt crisis burst into the open. At that point Greek government debt was near 130 percent of gross domestic product, which is definitely a big number. But it’s by no means unprecedented. As it happens, Greece’s debt ratio in 2009 was about the same as America’s in 1946, just after the war. And Britain’s debt ratio in 1946 was twice as high.

Today, however, Greek debt is over 170 percent of G.D.P. and still rising. Is that because Greece just kept on borrowing? Actually, no — Greek debt is up only 6 percent since 2009, although that’s partly because it received some debt relief in 2012. The main point, however, is that the ratio of debt to G.D.P. is up because G.D.P. is down by more than 20 percent. And why is GDP down? Largely because of the austerity measures Greece’s creditors forced it to impose.

Does this mean that austerity is always self-defeating? No, there are cases — for example, Canada in the 1990s — of countries that slashed their debt while maintaining growth and reducing unemployment. But if you look at how they managed this, it involved combining fiscal austerity with easy money: Canada in the ’90s drastically reduced interest rates, encouraging private spending, while allowing its currency to depreciate, encouraging exports.
Greece, unfortunately, no longer had its own currency when it was forced into drastic fiscal retrenchment. The result was an economic implosion that ended up making the debt problem even worse. Greece’s formula for disaster, in other words, didn’t just involve austerity; it involved the toxic combination of austerity with hard money.

So who wants to impose that kind of toxic policy mix on America? The answer is, most of the Republican Party.

On one side, just about everyone in the G.O.P. demands that we reduce government spending, especially aid to lower-income families. (They also, of course, want to reduce taxes on the rich — but that wouldn’t do much to boost demand for U.S. products.)

On the other side, leading Republicans like Representative Paul Ryan incessantly attack the Federal Reserve for its efforts to boost the economy, delivering solemn lectures on the evils of “debasing” the dollar — when the main difference between the effects of austerity in Canada and in Greece was precisely that Canada could “debase” its currency, while Greece couldn’t. Oh, and many Republicans hanker for a return to the gold standard, which would effectively put us into a euro-like straitjacket.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/10/o...-a-lesson-for-republicans-in-the-us.html?_r=0

it sure is...don't be stupid like the Greeks and don't embrace socialism...reduce the size of government and increase individual freedom....works like a charm every timeout is tried...

Lol Obama's been printing money for 8 years.