"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Austerity: A Brief History

Interesting post by Richard RJ Eskow at Crooks and Liars on austerity economics and its sad history.

One of those deaths should have completely altered the political debate in Washington. The name of the deceased was "Austerity Economics," and it was first glimpsed in a 1921 paper by conservative economist Frank Wright. Austerity died of natural causes brought on by prolonged exposure to reality.

But the debate in Washington didn't change nearly enough after its passing. In the nation's capital, dead things still rule the night.

Worth a read.

Even someone as economically illiterate as I am understands that if your economy hits a downturn and unemployment starts skyrocketing, the last thing you want to do is take money out of it and eliminate more jobs.

Now go ask your favorite Republican or Republican-lite how to fix the economy.

If you want a take on why the debate in Washington hasn't changed, read this post by Nicole Bell.

Thus, we're looking at a congress that are less our elected representatives and more representative of the one percent. This is why cutting social safety programs make sense...they can't imagine anyone like them actually needing them.

'Nuff said?

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