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The Complete Failure Of Austerity, In 1 Chart

blaxshep said:
A debt problem is not the result of austerity, austerity is the result of a debt problem. It is what happens when you run out of other people's money.
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Riiiiight. Which is why austerity is 0-for-every-instance of its implementation as economic policy.

Look, guy, can you point out even one single successful implementation of austerity - and by 'successful', I mean a marked improvement in an economy?

(these guys just will not accept how modern RESULTS completely invalidate their dogma. Given a choice between hard-and-fast results or political dogmaof any stripe, I'll choose hard-and-fast results every time)
 
"Austerity doesn't work" is non-statement. (What does " work"?)
Austerity is someting that is forced up Governments. When expenditures continullay exceed revenues, debt starts to pile up, thus exacerbating the situation since the interest on the debt starts to become significant.
There just isn't much choice. You can either cut back on expenditures or figure out a way to increase revenue. The only way Govt's can raise revenue is through economic growth or tax hikes. Conundrum. Tax hikes may raise revenues in the short term, but they strangle economic growth in the long term. There just really is no other option other than cutting back on expenditures.
The vanity of liberalism is that economies can be fixed by the central planners with smart Gov't policy. I think we've seen that is a myth.
The reality is that there are forces at work in the US economy that are far beyond the control of Gov't. We are in for a long, rough ride.
 
KLATTU said:
"Austerity doesn't work" is non-statement. (What does " work"?)
Austerity is someting that is forced up Governments. When expenditures continullay exceed revenues, debt starts to pile up, thus exacerbating the situation since the interest on the debt starts to become significant.
There just isn't much choice. You can either cut back on expenditures or figure out a way to increase revenue. The only way Govt's can raise revenue is through economic growth or tax hikes. Conundrum. Tax hikes may raise revenues in the short term, but they strangle economic growth in the long term. There just really is no other option other than cutting back on expenditures.
The vanity of liberalism is that economies can be fixed by the central planners with smart Gov't policy. I think we've seen that is a myth.
The reality is that there are forces at work in the US economy that are far beyond the control of Gov't. We are in for a long, rough ride.
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Austerity is forced by government(s) who do(es) not want to use its resources to provide taxes toward the common good. They want everything privatized for profit.
 
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rabbitcaebannog said:
Austerity is forced by government(s) who do(es) not want to use its resources to provide taxes toward the common good. They want everything privatized for profit.
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No Austerity is forced ON governments because they have run out of other people's money.
 
blaxshep said:
No Austerity is forced ON governments because they have run out of other people's money.
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They do not need other people's money if they are free to simply use other people's credit instead. ;)
 
blaxshep said:
No Austerity is forced ON governments because they have run out of other people's money.
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No, again Austerity is forced by government in order to break apart the social contract and to privatize services for profit.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Yep. It is very easy to be quite generous when spending other people's money. ;)
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Nice line used by specific people but what exactly does that mean? If people contribute to such things as Social Security and Medicare that is their money not someone else's.
 
rabbitcaebannog said:
Nice line used by specific people but what exactly does that mean? If people contribute to such things as Social Security and Medicare that is their money not someone else's.
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Only to the extent that flat taxation directly funds those programs and all have the same age disability/qualifications for getting those benefits. Once you start income redistribution programs that tax the wages of some to give to others because they are "needy" then that crosses the line.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Only to the extent that flat taxation directly funds those programs and all have the same age disability/qualifications for getting those benefits. Once you start income redistribution programs that tax the wages of some to give to others because they are "needy" then that crosses the line.
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Well then that is a red herring because that is not what so called "bankrupted" the country and certainly is not even close to be the only thing taken away during Austerity which breaks apart things people have put their money towards only to be taken away and used to pay down debt.
 
rabbitcaebannog said:
No, again Austerity is forced by government in order to break apart the social contract and to privatize services for profit.
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That is horse ****. You think Greece just implemented austerity in order to break apart social contracts and to privatize services for profit? :lamo
 
rabbitcaebannog said:
Well then that is a red herring because that is not what so called "bankrupted" the country and certainly is not even close to be the only thing taken away during Austerity which breaks apart things people have put their money towards only to be taken away and used to pay down debt.
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If something is not part of the gov't spending solution then it is part of the gov't spending problem. The return on investment of rewarding economic failure has not been shown to reduce poverty. While Social Security/Medicare are currently underfunded they are seen as worthwhile programs by far more people than the social "safety net" nonsense that rewards out of wedlock childbirth and taxes only the wages of some. I agree that gov't's wasteful spending is not limitted to those income redistribution programs but to assert that all gov't spending is equally useful/wasteful is simply insane.
 
blaxshep said:
That is horse ****. You think Greece just implemented austerity in order to break apart social contracts and to privatize services for profit? :lamo
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Greece is not a sovereign nation with regard to its currency so it's a moot point.

Edit to add: with regard to its currency
 
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ttwtt78640 said:
If something is not part of the gov't spending solution then it is part of the gov't spending problem. The return on investment of rewarding economic failure has not been shown to reduce poverty. While Social Security/Medicare are currently underfunded they are seen as worthwhile programs by far more people than the social "safety net" nonsense that rewards out of wedlock childbirth and taxes only the wages of some. I agree that gov't's wasteful spending is not limitted to those income redistribution programs but to assert that all gov't spending is equally useful/wasteful is simply insane.
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Again just a saying. Be specific on what you mean by government spending. What exactly do you want cut to save the budget? Whatever it is it will not do much at all for the debt. I believe Social Security and Medicare has reduced poverty amongst the elderly. Yet, it is those two programs under attack and will continue to be when the talk of Austerity comes up. Also, you have to be specific on what programs are wasteful or being wasteful not just use a blanket statement that government programs are wasteful therefore let's cut all government programs. Personally, I'm sure we could find waste in our defense programs.
 
rabbitcaebannog said:
Again just a saying. Be specific on what you mean by government spending. What exactly do you want cut to save the budget? Whatever it is it will not do much at all for the debt. I believe Social Security and Medicare has reduced poverty amongst the elderly. Yet, it is those two programs under attack and will continue to be when the talk of Austerity comes up. Also, you have to be specific on what programs are wasteful or being wasteful not just use a blanket statement that government programs are wasteful therefore let's cut all government programs. Personally, I'm sure we could find waste in our defense programs.
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There are thousands of federal agencies and the only thing you can think of to cut is Social Security, Medicare and the Military?
 
blaxshep said:
Greece is not a sovereign nation, BWAAAAA HAAA HAAA HAAAAAA!

You might want to tell the Greek that .... :lamo
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It's not sovereign with regard to its currency. I should have included that last part. My bad.
 
blaxshep said:
There are thousands of federal agencies and the only thing you can think of to cut is Social Security, Medicare and the Military?
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I'm not looking to cut SS or Medicare but many politicians want to take money used for those programs and make bigger shortfalls in those budgets which will effectively eliminate them in the long run. It's the old starve the beast argument. Starve off the funds and you kill the program. Many politicians have been doing this for decades with regards to other services. Could you be specific in what you would like to cut?
 
rabbitcaebannog said:
I'm not looking to cut SS or Medicare but many politicians want to take money used for those programs and make bigger shortfalls in those budgets which will effectively eliminate them in the long run. It's the old starve the beast argument. Starve off the funds and you kill the program. Many politicians have been doing this for decades with regards to other services. Could you be specific in what you would like to cut?
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Well for that matter the politicians have already spent all the SS and Medicare funds, there is nothing there now but IOUs.

I would cut any and all federal entities that are not specifically spelled out in the 18 enumerated powers. So basically almost all of them.
 
blaxshep said:
Well for that matter the politicians have already spent all the SS and Medicare funds, there is nothing there now but IOUs.

I would cut any and all federal entities that are not specifically spelled out in the 18 enumerated powers. So basically almost all of them.
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Treasury securities do not equate "spent all our money" unless of course they choose to default. So, you would cut programs like Social Security and Medicare?
 
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